Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple e-book buyers getting settlement credits this week
ALBANY— Buyers of electronic books will get account credits this week from five publishers who reached settlements after states alleged they colluded to raise prices, New York’s attorney general said Tuesday.
The $166 million national settlements were approved Dec. 6 and cover claims from April 1, 2010, to May 21, 2012. Buyers who bought certain e-books from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo or Apple will automatically get partial refund credits in their e-book accounts. Notification emails to eligible buyers were going out starting Tuesday.
The publishers are Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, Penguin Group and Holtzbrinck doing business as Macmillan. They denied wrongdoing but agreed to the settlement to avoid going to trial.