FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEWS RELEASE
March 25, 2014
For More Information, contact:
Luther Strange
Joy Patterson (334) 242-7491
Alabama Attorney General
Claire Haynes (334) 242-7351
Page 1 of 1
AG RECOVERS $1.9 MILLION FOR ALABAMA CONSUMERS
IN NATIONAL E-BOOK PRICE-FIXING SETTLEMENT
(MONTGOMERY) – Attorney General Luther Strange today announced that
Alabama consumers will receive $1.956 million as part of a national settlement
regarding price-fixing of electronic books, known as E-books. Many of the payments
will be electronically transmitted this week back to the accounts through which
consumers made the purchases, and in cases where this is undetermined, paper checks
will be mailed.
This agreement settles claims brought by Attorney General Strange and 32 other
Attorneys General in 2012 against five of the nation’s six largest E-book publishers:
Hachette Book Group Inc., HarperCollins Publishers LLC, Simon and Schuster Inc.,
Holtzbrinck Publishers LLC doing business as MacMillan, and Penguin Group (USA)
Inc. A trial is expected sometime this summer to determine damages due to consumers
from Apple Inc., which declined to settle claims against it.
“I am pleased that we have been able to recover nearly $2 million due to
Alabamians, and that the entirety of this settlement is being used to compensate
consumers for their damages.”
The amount of individual refunds will be based on the number of eligible E-
books purchased during the claims period of April 1, 2010 to May 21, 2012.
Consumers should look for upcoming email communications from their E-book
retailer or from the lawsuit Settlement Administrator. More information is available
on the settlement website, www.ebookagsettlements.com.
In addition to Alabama, others joining the settlement include: Alaska, Arizona,
Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Washington, D.C., Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana,
Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska,
New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, South
Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
–30–
501 Washington Avenue * Montgomery, AL 36104 * (334) 242-7300
www.ago.state.al.us
