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Canadian class actions follow after DOJ’s eBook price fixing suit

By  |  April 18, 2012

The Globe and Mail reports that at least five proposed class action lawsuits against Apple and other eBook publishers have been filed. The Canadian lawsuits bring claims against Hachette, HarperCollins, Holtzbrinck, Macmillian, Penguin, Simon & Schuster, as well as Apple. The most recent lawsuit has been filed in British Columbia Supreme Court.

The allegations raised by the suits all echo that of the recent charges brought by the U.S. DOJ against eBook publishers–namely, that an anticompetitive conspiracy maintained by publishers aimed to control eBook pricing. According to counsel representing plaintiffs in the B.C. suit, the Canadian and U.S. eBook markets are similar, as are the eBook pricing policies employed by the publishers.

 

Full content: The Globe and Mail

 

Related content: International Cooperation in a New Era of Canadian Cartel Enforcement (Lindsay Donders, Canadian Competition Bureau)

 

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