After allegedly conspiring with five publishers to raise e-book prices, Apple agreed to settle the claims for $450 million.
U.S. District Judge Denise Cote approved the "highly unusual" deal on Friday, Nov.21. It calls for the tech company to pay $400 million to its 23 million consumers after allegedly violating their trust over Apple's e-book prices.
Apple allegedly worked with five publishers to drive up e-book prices and impede competitors like Amazon.com Inc, violating antitrust laws.
Because of that, the Cupertino, Calif.-based company has to pay $400 million to consumers and $50 million to lawyers if Cote's findings are upheld on appeal.
If the appeals court overturns Cote and returns the case to her, under a new trial, Apple would owe $50 million to consumers and $20 million to lawyers.
The court, which will hear Apple's challenge on Dec. 15, is not expected to change its previous ruling.
While the deal was unusual, Cote said she understood why the lawsuit decided to go with it, given delay tactics by Apple.
The other five publishers including Lagardere SCA, Hachette Book Group Inc., News Corp, HarperCollins Publishers LLC, CBS Corp's, Penguin Group, Simon and Schuster Inc. and Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrinck GmbH's Macmillan in the case also shelled out $166 million for those who bought their overpriced e-books, above the $9.99 price that Amazon had made.
Apple agreed to the settlement this summer in June, ahead of a damages trial set for two months later in which attorneys general in 33 states and territories and lawyers for a class of consumers were expected to seek up to $840 million.
During Friday's hearing, Cote said it was an "unusually structured settlement, especially for one arrived at on the eve of trial." The Justice Department initiated the suit in 2012.
Apple entered the e-book business in 2010, with the development of the iPad and the iBookstore. With that, publishers charged retailers for half the price of the book, the retailers would then set their own prices once the e-book is now on their online shelves.
