Simon & Schuster, Hachette Book Group and Penguin Group (USA) have created a website to discover and buy books called Bookish.com. Bookish.com is supposed to be “a one-stop, comprehensive online destination designed to connect readers with books and authors.”
Amazon.com has started to let Kindle users known that they may receive a refund on e-book purchases due to the settlement made for price-fixing by the major publishers. The message was sent to users “in most U.S. states and territories.” A $69 million fund was created by Hachette, HarperCollins, and Simon & Schuster. The Attorney General is estimating that the refund will amount to $0.30 to $1.32 per e-book. The e-books must have been purchased between April 2010 and May 2012.
Three of the publishers that are involved in the antitrust lawsuit filed by the U.S. Justice Department have made settlements. About $69 million will be paid to consumers as a result. The three agencies that made the settlement include Hachette, HarperCollins, and Simon & Schuster. They will issue payouts and have agreed to terminate agency pricing contracts with publishers like Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
Apple has criticized the U.S. Department of Justice over a settlement that was made with several book publishers as part of an ongoing trial that revolves around price fixing. Apple is arguing that a settlement would nullify their existing contracts with companies like Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins, and Simon & Schuster before a witness could be called in to testify and before the court has reviewed the details of the case.
Apple has officially responded to the lawsuit brought on to them by the U.S. Department of Justice. Below is a statement from Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr.
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The U.S. Justice Department had filed a lawsuit against Apple, Hachette SA, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin, and Simon & Schuster in the New York District Court claiming that they have been colluding on e-book price fixing. Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, and Hachette is rumored to have settled their lawsuits, but Apple and Macmillan refused to engage in settlement talks.
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