Three of the five major book publishers sued for colluding to raise prices of e-books, have reached a settlement with the US Department of Justice in a federal court here.
However, the litigation against two others including technology giant Apple, named in the lawsuit, will continue by the Department, the judgment said.
A settlement was reached with Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins Publishers and Simon and Schuster Inc under which the companies would be required to grant retailers such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble the freedom to reduce the prices of their e-book titles.
The Justice Department had filed a civil anti-trust lawsuit on Wednesday in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York against Apple, Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin and Simon & Schuster.
It was alleged that the publishers prevented retail price competition, resulting in consumers paying millions of dollars more for their e-books.
While settlement was reached with the three, the Department said it will continue to litigate against Apple, Macmillan and Penguin Group.
This is on charges of conspiring to end e-book retailers' freedom to compete on price, taking control of pricing from e-book retailers and substantially increasing the prices that consumers pay for e-books.
According to the complaint, the five publishers and Apple were unhappy that competition among e-book sellers had reduced e-book prices and the retail profit margins were too low.