Kansans who purchased certain electronic books will share more than
$628,000 in refunds, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt announced
today.
Attorney General Schmidt, along with attorneys
general from 54 other states, districts and U.S. territories, reached a
settlement with three of the largest U.S. book publishers to resolve
alleged antitrust violations. Hachette Book Group Inc., HarperCollins
Publishers LLC and Simon & Schuster Inc. have agreed to pay more
than $69 million to U.S. consumers.
The attorneys general alleged the publishers unlawfully conspired to fix the prices of electronic books (e-books).
As part of the settlement, the publishers have agreed to change the pricing of e-books going forward.
“We
take anticompetitive action that harms Kansas consumers very
seriously,” Schmidt said. “Colluding to fix prices raises costs for
customers, who here have paid millions of dollars more than they would
have for popular e-book titles. Today’s settlement provides restitution
for consumers harmed by the scheme. True competition is essential to the
working of the free market.”
The settlement occurs in
conjunction with a civil antitrust lawsuit filed Wednesday in U.S.
District Court for the Southern District of New York against Hachette,
HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster. A separate suit has been filed
against two other publishers and Apple Inc., which are not part of this
settlement.
Under the proposed settlement agreement,
which must be approved by the Court, publishers Hachette, HarperCollins
and Simon & Schuster will compensate consumers who purchased e-books
from any of the five conspiring publishers between April 1, 2010 and
May 21, 2012.
Payments will begin 30 days after the
court’s approval of the settlement becomes final. Kansas consumers are
expected to receive approximately $628,319 in total compensation.
Consumers will be notified electronically if they are eligible for
refunds.
In addition, the publishers have agreed to
terminate their existing agency agreements with certain retailers that
allow the publishers to set the prices for e-books.
The publishers are also prohibited from making new, similar agreements for two years.
The
case against non-settling publishers — Penguin Group, Inc. and
Holtzbrinck Publishers LLC dba Macmillan — and Apple, Inc., remains
pending in the Southern District of New York.
Consumers
can contact the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division at
1-800-432-2310 or online at www.ag.ks.gov for further information.
