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US: Penguin files to force price-fixing plaintiffs to federal arbitration – again

By  |  May 16, 2013

As court documents come pouring in ahead of the June 3 trial for e-book price-fixing, reports have emerged that publisher Penguin has filed a motion asking the court to force plaintiffs in the consumer class and state claims to federal arbitration. The motion is significant as it is the same motion filed a year ago and subsequently rejected last July by Judge Denise Cote. Media call the two filings, made a year apart, “nearly identical” – Penguin claims that purchasers of e-books have agreed to the Terms of Use on Amazon and Barnes & Nobel, thereby agreeing to arbitrate “all disputes arising out of the purchases.” Judge Cote denied the request, citing an applicable precedent. Penguin reportedly acknowledged in its more recent filing the similarities with the first, adding that its purpose is to “preserve the issues for appeal.”

Full Content: Publishers Weekly

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