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The Impact of the Inclusive Access Antitrust Lawsuit on US College Bookstores, Book Publishers, and Educational Publishers

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Abstract

On July 1, 2016, the US Department of Education’s “Rule 164” went into effect. This rule stipulated that: colleges “may include the costs of books and supplies as part of tuition and fees;” the books or supplies must be “below competitive market rates…” And a student may opt out of the program. This procedure became known as Inclusive Access (IA). The legality of IA was challenged in a series of 9 Federal Court cases; the plaintiffs argued that the defendants, college bookstores and college textbook publishers, violated the US antitrust laws. The lawsuits were consolidated into “In Re Inclusive Access Course Materials Antitrust Litig.; 20 MDL No. 2946, DCL; United States District Court Southern District of New York. On June 14, 2021, District Judge Denise Cote ruled in favor of the defendants, making IA legal in the US.

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  1. Gabelli School of Business, Fordham University, 441 East Fordham Road, Hughes Hall 516, Bronx, NY, 10458, USA

    Alexandra Thomas, Emily Dunbar, Robert M. Wharton & Albert N. Greco

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Correspondence to Albert N. Greco.

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Thomas, A., Dunbar, E., Wharton, R.M. et al. The Impact of the Inclusive Access Antitrust Lawsuit on US College Bookstores, Book Publishers, and Educational Publishers. Pub Res Q 38, 475–489 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12109-022-09905-1

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