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Apple e-book settlement funds available to Ohio, U.S. consumers this week

KEITH ARNOLD
Special to the Legal News

Published: June 28, 2016

Ohioans are encouraged to collect their share of the $421 million in settlement funds related to the antitrust case brought against Apple for its part in artificially inflating the price of e-books during the period between 2010 and 2012.

Ohio consumers are expected to receive an estimated $15 million of the total settlement, according to a statement from state Attorney General Mike DeWine, who joined his counterparts in 32 other states and territories in the suit.

“My office played a key role in this case, helping to secure the maximum amount of consumer compensation possible and prevailing despite multiple appeals,” DeWine said. “We’ll continue our efforts to protect consumers and ensure fairness in the marketplace.”

The settlement funds — $400 million of which is specific to Apple Inc. conspiring with five of the top book publishers in the United States to raise e-book prices and $21 million left over from related settlements with book publishers — were made available to U.S. consumers last Tuesday.

The publishers — Penguin, Macmillan, Hachette, HarperCollins, and Simon & Schuster — previously settled before trial and paid $166 million in consumer compensation, most of which was distributed to consumers in March 2014.

For each e-book purchased between April 1, 2010, and May 21, 2012 and was a New York Times bestseller, consumers will receive $6.93. For other e-books bought during that time, consumers will receive $1.57 per e-book, according to DeWine’s statement.

Consumers who purchased eligible e-books through Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble, or Kobo will automatically receive credits in their accounts, unless they previously requested to receive checks. Consumers who purchased eligible e-books through Sony will automatically receive a check by mail. Customers who purchased eligible e-books through Google will receive a check if they filed a claim by the deadline.

Those who are to receive account credits should expect to receive an email by Friday, notifying them about the credits, the statement continued.

Credits can be used to purchase anything sold by the retailer, not only e-books.

A third-party settlement administrator is distributing the funds.

The administrator has set up a website — www.ebooklawsuits.com — and toll-free phone number — 866-686-9333 — to assist consumers who have questions about the distribution.

It wasn’t until Apple appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court the ruling upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and the high court refused to hear the case that the company settled with the states.

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