eBook Antitrust Class Action Lawsuit Complaint Filed Against Apple, Hachette Book, Harpercollins, Macmillan, Penguin & Simon & Schuster Over Alleged Price Fixing

eBook Purchasers File Antitrust Class Action Lawsuit Complaint Against Apple, Hachette Book, Harpercollins, Macmillan, Penguin & Simon & Schuster Over Alleged Price Fixing.

A class action lawsuit has reportedly been filed against Apple Inc. (“Apple”), Hachette Book Group, Inc. (“Hachette Book”), Harpercollins Publishers, Inc. (“Harpercollins”), Macmillan Publishers, Inc. (“Macmillan”), Penguin Group (USA) Inc. (“Penguin”) and Simon & Schuster, Inc. (“Simon & Schuster”) (collectively “Defendants”) in the United States District Court for the Northern District Court of California (styled Anthony Petu and Marcus Mathis v. Apple Inc., Hachette Book Group, Inc., Harpercollins Publishers, Inc., Macmillan Publishers, Inc., Penguin Group (USA) Inc. and Simon & Schuster, Inc.) alleging, among other things, that Defendants unlawfully contracted, combined and conspired to unreasonably restrain trade in violation of section 1 of the Sherman Act by agreeing to switch to the Agency model of eBook pricing by coordinating their pricing to directly set retail prices higher than had existed in the previously competitive market and by agreeing to restrict the price range of eBooks, according to the Apple, Hachette Book, Harpercollins, Macmillan, Penguin & Simon & Schuster eBook antitrust class action lawsuit complaint.

The Apple, Hachette Book, Harpercollins, Macmillan, Penguin & Simon & Schuster eBook antitrust class action lawsuit complaint is reportedly brought on behalf of the following nationwide putative class of persons, unless otherwise excluded:

All persons in the United States who purchased eBooks published by one of the “Agency Five” publishers after the adoption of the Agency Model by that publisher. (the “California Law Class” Excluded from the California Law Class are Defendants, their employees, co-conspirators, officers, directors, legal representatives, heirs, successors and wholly orpartly owned subsidiaries of affiliated companies.

The Apple, Hachette Book, Harpercollins, Macmillan, Penguin & Simon & Schuster eBook antitrust also is brought on behalf of putative State Classes involving antitrust statutes of each of the following jurisdictions:  Arizona, California, DC, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshite, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

The Apple, Hachette Book, Harpercollins, Macmillan, Penguin & Simon & Schuster eBook antitrust class action lawsuit complaint reportedly asserts claims for alleged violation of the Sherman Act, 15 USC 1, the Cartwright Act, Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code section 16720, state antitrust and restraint of trade laws and consumer protection statutes, unfair competition act, Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code section 17200 and unjust enrichment.

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