Some Tennesseans will start receiving account credits or checks this week as part of a partial agreement resolving an e-book price-fixing lawsuit.
The lawsuit was filed by Tennessee Attorney General Bob Cooper and attorneys general from 32 other states against Apple, Inc., and five of the nation's six largest e-book publishers (Hachette Book Group Inc., HarperCollins Publishers LLC, Simon & Schuster Inc., Holtzbrinck Publishers, LLC, d/b/a Macmillan, and Penguin Group (USA) Inc.).
The US District Court for the Southern District of New York found those parties conspired to fix prices and restrain trade in violation of federal and state laws. The suit asked for a nationwide payment of $166 million; Tennessee's share of that is about $2.8 million.
Consumers will receive an account credit or check based on the number of eligible E-books they bought during the claims period of April 1, 2010 to May 21, 2012.
A second trial to determine the amount of damages Apple must pay for violating federal and state anti-trust laws has been tentatively scheduled for May. That could lead to additional account credits or checks for Tennessee consumers in the future.
(Release from the Tennessee Attorney General's Office here)
