The e-book pricing lawsuit that’s been ongoing since 2012 has finally reached its end today, with Apple being told that it must pay $450 million to settle by the Supreme Court.
The Department of Justice alleged that Apple conspired with Penguin, HarperCollins, Hachette, Simon & Schuster and Macmillan to rig book pricing when Steve Jobs asked book publishers to change how books were priced to help promote the iPad in 2010.
The DoJ said that the company caused e-book prices to rise to $12.99 or $14.99 because Apple required the publishers to switch their other agreements.
Apple asked the Supreme Court to overturn a decision that found it guilty of conspiring with book publishers to fix prices, saying that the decision will “harm competition and the national economy.”
The ruling today means that Apple will need to pay $450 million in damages to consumers, as well as $30 million in attorney’s fees and $20 million to the US. The company had previously reached the settlement with the DoJ, but chose to appeal it at the Supreme Court.
➤ Apple Rejected by U.S. Supreme Court in $450 Million E-Book Case [Bloomberg]
Get the TNW newsletter
Get the most important tech news in your inbox each week.