Apple agrees US ebook price-fixing settlement out of court

Apple has agreed to settle an ebook price fixing lawsuit in the US.

 

The tech giant avoided a trial and an estimated $840m payout in damages by agreeing to settle the lawsuit out of court.

 

Consumers and legal representatives from 33 US states filed the civil lawsuit against the iPhone-maker and five book publishers after the US Department of Justice initially took legal action in April 2012.

 

It alleged they worked together illegally to push up the price of ebooks.

 

The five US publishers – Hachette, HarperCollins, Penguin, Macmillan and Simon & Schuster – have already agreed to pay more than $166m to settle related anti-trust charges.

 

A judge ruled last year that Apple had taken part in the price-fixing conspiracy in order to fight Amazon’s dominance in the ebook market.

 

Apple is appealing last year’s ruling and the settlement of the lawsuit will depend upon the outcome of the appeal.

 

If the appeal is unsuccessful, Apple still faces a potential million dollar payout in out of court settlements.