Motions made late last week pertaining to lawsuits filed against Apple and five publishers over e-book price fixing charges give an idea on when a trial in the Department of Justice case against Apple and Macmillan and Penguin may go to court. The publishers proposed schedule differs from Apple, which is different than that offered by the DoJ. In addition, Penguin, Macmillan and Apple oppose a motion by the plaintiffs (which also include the state attorney generals plus attorneys in the class action lawsuit) that would allow for joint discovery in all three actions as well as class certification briefing. Instead, the three want any discovery related solely to issues unrelated to the DoJ action—damages discovery and class certification discovery—to take place after the DoJ discovery.
Under Apple’s proposal fact discovery would end December 7, 2012, while the publishers target April 1, 2013; the plaintiffs proposed March 22, 2013 as the end date. Apple would like to see summary judgment motions filed by January 14, 2013, while the publishers want August 19, 2013 and the plaintiffs July 3, 2013. Apple wants to be trial ready by March 26, 2013, while the plaintiffs propose September 30, 2013; The date from the publishers is a bit ambiguous since it is contingent on when a decision on summary judgment is handed down. The publishers want the next major filings after the summary judgment decision to be 10 weeks after the ruling, while Apple proposes February 26, 2013, and the plaintiffs August 30, 2013. It appears the earliest publishers want the next phase to occur would be mid December 2013, a timeframe that would push being trial ready beyond the September 30 date of the plaintiffs.
