You could get in on a $12M class action Apple lawsuit if you're Canadian

Did you by chance happen to purchase an eBook on an Apple device between April 2010 and March 2017? Probably, to be honest. Who remembers? It doesn't matter.

Another class action lawsuit has been lobbed against a major Canadian company — several of them, in fact — related to eBook price fixing. 

Who'd have thought, after all of that bonkers bread drama, that we'd see even more captains of industry busted for working together to unnecessarily raise prices on consumers for the purpose of fattening their bonuses?

"Class action lawsuits commenced against Apple Inc. and Apple Canada Inc. and certain eBook Publishers, alleging the price of eBooks sold in Canada between April 1, 2010 and March 10, 2017, was artificially high because they conspired to fix, maintain, increase or control the price of eBooks," reads a recent news release announcing the settlement.

While courts in Ontario and Quebec have yet to approve the settlement's terms, it's looking quite likely that residents of the former two provinces, as well as B.C., will receive some sort of reimbursement over the alleged overcharges.

Depending on how many people come forward to participate in the claim, it could be a lot of money per person — the law firms representing plaintiffs in this case say that they've reached an agreement with Apple (subject to approval) that will result in a payout of roughly $12,000,000 to people who were duped by overpriced eBooks.

Apple isn't the only bad guy here, though... which somehow makes this situation all the more disturbing. 

According to the firms Branch MacMaster LLP, Sylvestre Painchaud SENCRL, Strosberg Sasso Sutts LLP, and Morganti & Co., PC, Apple Canada Inc. is accused of conspiring with all of the following publishers: 

Hachette Book Group Canada Ltd, Hachette Book Group Inc., HarperCollins Canada Limited, HarperCollins Publishers LLC, Macmillan Publishers, Inc., Penguin Group (USA) LLC (now Penguin Random House LLC), Penguin Canada Books, Inc. (now Penguin Random House Canada Limited), and Simon & Schuster Canada, a division of CBS Canada Holdings Co. 

The suit claims that these companies "conspired to fix, maintain, increase or control the price of eBooks sold by them in Canada, contrary to Part VI of the Competition Act, the common law and the Civil Code of Quebec (the 'Alleged Conspiracy')."

You can read all of the legal nitty gritty here. As a website dedicated to the massive class action lawsuit makes clear, Ontario residents have until Nov. 30, 2022 to get in on the action.