Penguin Settles with DoJ

The Department of Justice has announced a settlement with Penguin regarding the e-book pricing antitrust lawsuit brought last spring against five of the “big six” publishers and Apple. Penguin had previously vowed to litigate in court.

Because of Penguin’s proposed merger with Random House — never part of the lawsuit — announced at the end of October, Penguin decided to settle. A statement from the company said “it is also in everyone’s interests that the proposed Penguin Random House company should begin life with a clean sheet of paper.” The settlement, which imposes the same basic terms as prior settlements with HarperCollins, Hachette, and Simon & Schuster, still requires the approval of Judge Denise Cote of New York’s Southern District Court. Macmillan and Apple are now the only parties to the lawsuit who have not reached a settlement with the DoJ.