In the ongoing legal battles involving Apple over antitrust violations in an ebook price fixing case, it seems the technology giant just can’t catch a break. Between rulings against the company for its involvement with colluding with most of the Big Five publishers, to having an outsider officer appointed to oversee its operations, it feels like every time Apple sees a courtroom, it doesn’t go well.
You’d think they’d learn.
Instead, Apple filed motions last month to appeal Judge Denise Cote’s date for the damages portion of the ongoing case–damages which can be as high as 800+ million dollars, if punitive rulings are imposed–on the grounds that they were certain the case would be thrown out once it finishes with its appeal of Cote’s guilty ruling, making the damages trial a waste of time and money. Unfortunately for Apple, the Second Court of Appeals ruled this week that no delay was necessary.
The appeal of the ruling against Apple is expected to take months in a trial phase that will begin July 14th. In related news, Amazon and Hachette Book Group–one of the publishers who settled out of court for its involvement in this case–are locked in battle over pricing terms. These terms were initially laid out as part of the settlement but are set to expire this fall, giving Hachette the option to once again attempt to impose agency pricing instead of the wholesale model that most entities operate under with Amazon. That battle has led Amazon to make some pretty fierce decisions about Hachette titles, including stating that titles were temporarily out of stock, removing the buy buttons on books for pre-order, and more.
Mercy Pilkington is a Senior Editor for Good e-Reader. She is also the CEO and founder of a hybrid publishing and consulting company.