Apple loses final appeal in e-books price-fixing suit, will pay $450 million fine

courtroom gavel

A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld a 2013 decision finding Apple guilty for conspiring with publishers to raise e-book prices, reports The Wall Street Journal. As a result, the company is expected to pay a $450 million settlement it agreed to with private plaintiffs, 30+ states and the DOJ last year.

“We conclude that the district court correctly decided that Apple orchestrated a conspiracy among the publishers to raise e-book prices,” wrote Second Circuit Judge Debra Ann Livingston. The conspiracy “unreasonably restrained trade” in violation of the Sherman Act, the federal antitrust law, she wrote.

The $450 million will be in addition to the millions of dollars Apple spent on litigation and legal fees over the past 3 years. Despite the fact that all 5 book publishers involved in the price-fixing case reached individual settlements with the DOJ, Apple has maintained its innocence and chosen to fight the suit.

For those who haven’t been keeping up with the saga, in 2012 the US Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Apple and 5 major book publishers for conspiring to raise e-book prices. Apple was found guilty of the charge in 2013, and has since lost multiple appeals in an effort to get the decision overturned.

Source: The Wall Street Journal