Apple Inc wins approval for $450 million settlement over electronic books price fixing

Apple Inc has won preliminary approval of a settlement, which could see it pay $450 million to resolve claims by US states and consumers that it led a conspiracy to fix prices on electronic books, Bloomberg reported.

US district judge Denise Cote said in Manhattan yesterday there was ''probable cause to find that the proposed settlement agreement is within the range of those that may be approved as fair and reasonable.''

The agreement would see Apple pay $400 million plus $50 million in attorneys' fees if a federal appeals court agreed with Cote that the Cupertino, California-based company violated US antitrust laws, The Register reported. If Apple were to win the appeal, it would pay nothing under the deal.

Under the agreement, Apple would need to pay $50 million plus $20 million in attorneys' fees if the appeals court sent the case back to Cote for a retrial.

Cote set 21 November for a fairness hearing, in which she would consider whether to give final approval to the agreement.

In a case filed by the US justice department, the judge ruled last year that Apple conspired with five of the biggest publishers to fix e-book prices in response to competition from Amazon.com Inc. The parties announced the settlement in June, weeks ahead of a damages trial in which Apple would have faced claims of around $674 million, Cote said.

Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins Publishers LLC, Simon & Schuster Inc, Pearson Plc, Penguin Group and the Macmillan unit of Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrinck GmbH had paid $166 million from settlements with states and consumers.

Cote said, pending an appeal by Apple of the original verdict, the deal to settle the case would move towards a final hearing in November.

People who bought ebooks from Apple would have up to 31 October to opt out or object to the class-action settlement.

"The Court finds that the Settlement Agreement is the result of extensive, arm's length negotiations by counsel well-versed in antitrust litigation and the particulars of this case'', Cote said.

"The assistance of a well-known mediator, Antonio Piazza, reinforces the conclusion that the Settlement Agreement is non-collusive."

A judge had found Apple liable for antitrust laws violations in its dealings with publishers for its ebook shop.

One hurdle that remained, however, was that Apple had appealed the original 2013 verdict over antitrust law violation and pending the decision by the court to cut or scrap penalties against the company, the settlement could be changed or dismissed altogether.