Apple & 4 Publishers Settle In EU eBook Pricing Inquiry

By Dianna Dilworth 

Apple, Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, Hachette Livre, and Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrinck (which owns Macmillan in Germany), have agreed to settle with the European Commission to shake allegations of eBook price fixing.

Under the terms of the settlement, “Each of the Four Publishers and Apple will terminate the agency agreements for the sale of e-books in the EEA concluded between each of the Four Publishers and Apple,” said the EU in its Official Journal. Here is an excerpt from the statement:

the Four Publishers will offer each retailer other than Apple the opportunity to terminate any agency agreements concluded for the sale of e-books that (i) restrict, limit or impede the retailer’s ability to set, alter or reduce the retail price, or to offer price discounts or promotions, or (ii) contain aprice MFN clause as defined in the Four Publishers’ commitments.

AppNewser has more: “Pearson’s Penguin Group has not agreed to settlement terms and remains under investigation by the European Commission.” (Via Sarah Weinman & TechCrunch).