RICHMOND, Va. — Years after Virginia and 31 other states took Apple to court for artificially inflating the price of E-books, readers around the Commonwealth will get some money back.
“The amounts received by E-book purchasers will be based on the number of E-books purchased between April 1, 2010 and May 21, 2012. For each E-book that was a New York Times bestseller, consumers will receive $6.93. For all other E-books, the payment will be $1.57,” a spokesman for Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring said.
Payments will be made starting Tuesday, June 21.
“Customers who purchased E-books through Sony or Google will receive checks in the mail. Customers who purchased E-books through Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble, or Kobo will automatically receive credits in their accounts (unless they previously requested to receive checks),” according to the Attorney General’s Office. “Customers receiving account credits should expect to receive an email between June 21 and June 24, indicating that the credits are available in their accounts. Due to the large number of consumers affected, it will take a few days to fully load account credits, and some consumers may not see credits in their accounts until Friday, June 24.”
Case history:
In June 2013, the states, along with the United States Department of Justice, tried the case against Apple.
In July 2013, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled that Apple conspired with five major U.S. Publishers – Penguin Group (USA), Inc. (now Penguin Random House); Holtzbrinck Publishers LLC d/b/a Macmillan; Hachette Book Group Inc.; HarperCollins Publishers LLC; and Simon & Schuster Inc. – to raise the retail prices of E-books.
In June 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed that ruling.
In March 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court denied Apple’s request to review the Second Circuit’s decision.
“This has been a long process,” Attorney General Mark Herring said. “Virginia consumers will finally be compensated for these anti-competitive, anti-consumer business practices.”
Anyone with questions about the settlement can call 866-686-9333 or click here.
