Apple, Amazon Inform Customers of Settlement Refunds

By Alex Mutter

Amazon has informed some customers via email that they may soon receive refunds on certain Kindle e-books purchased between April 2010 and May 2012 as a result of the settlement between the United States Department of Justice and three major publishers (Hachette, HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster), according to the Wall Street Journal.

The refunds will likely be $1.32 per e-book for titles that were on the New York Times bestseller list during the disputed period, and 30 cents for other titles.

Amazon also said that it will automatically credit eligible customers’ accounts with the refunds, although customers can also request to have their refunds paid as checks.

And according to Digital Book World, Apple has sent a similar message out to some of its customers. Qualifying customers will have their iTunes accounts credited with the refund, when the settlement is finalized and approved in court.

As part of a settlement, Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins and Hachette have paid into a $69 million fund to finance the refunds. A concurrent antitrust suit is ongoing against Apple, Macmillan and Penguin, who chose not to settle and will fight the Department of Justice’s charges in court.

A court hearing to either approve or deny the settlement is scheduled for February 8, 2013.