Arizona joins other states in suing Apple for allegedly fixing ebook prices

Business litigation can be a very complicated and intimidating process for small business owners. During a lawsuit, it is important to have a small business attorney on your side who knows the ins and outs of running a company. A law firm situated in Phoenix with experience in business law can be useful in a case such as the lawsuit against Apple and other publishers for allegedly fixing ebook prices.

The state of Arizona has joined the case against Apple along with 15 other states suing this same company. The U.S. Department of Justice filed its own lawsuit against Apple around the same time. Some settlement talks are taking place among the publishers.

Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne told the Phoenix Business Journal, "Agreements among competitors to fix prices are illegal."

The other defendants include Penguin Group USA Inc., Macmillan Holdings LLC, Simon & Schuster Inc. and Simon & Schuster Digital Sales Inc. and the lawsuit alleges that these companies allowed publishers to set prices on books instead of the retailers. Apple officials did not comment on these allegations.

According to the lawsuits, in 2009, the book publishers fixed prices by raising the retail cost of ebooks. In 2010, the publishers signed an agreement with Apple since this corporation was developing its own ebook store on the well-known iTunes website. This agreement would let Apple keep a total of 30 percent of the purchased ebook price.

A major reason behind this formed alliance is due to Amazon having a stronghold on the ebook market. Amazon has been the largest distributor of ebooks through its store and Kindle reader over the last several years.

Other companies in the midst of business litigation in Phoenix should consider speaking to a small business attorney.

Categorised in: Uncategorized

This post was written by