AUSTIN, Texas (Legal Newsline) — The U.S. Supreme Court has denied Apple’s request to review a lower court decision in a case charging the company with allegations of inflating e-book prices, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has announced.
“No company is above the law, and when corporations illegally conspire to raise prices they will be held accountable,” Paxton said. “I’m pleased that e-book consumers in Texas and throughout the country will be compensated for the damages they suffered as a result of this conspiracy.”
Texas and 32 other states alleged Apple conspired to artificially inflate e-book prices with Penguin Group (USA), Inc. (now Penguin Random House), Holtzbrinck Publishers LLC doing business as Macmillan, Hachette Book Group Inc., HarperCollins Publishers LLC, and Simon & Schuster Inc.
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled against Apple in July 2013. In June 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed the ruling. Now that the Supreme Court has declined to review the case, Apple has no more options to contest the decision.
All five publishers settled before trial, and paid an estimated combined $166 million to consumers in compensation. Apple will now pay $400 million to consumers as well as $20 million to the states for fees and costs related to civil penalties.