Lawyers’ Donation Sweetens $150K Kindle Settlement

Sure, the $150,000 that Amazon paid for losing a kid’s homework seems excessive, but there is a good side: The lawyers’ share went to charity.

You, of course, remember the “Kindle Affair.” Amazon deleted copies of George Orwell titles from its customers’ Kindle e-readers after learning it didn’t have the right to sell the books electronically.

That was back in mid-July.

Along with the books, Amazon also grabbed content that users had created to go with the titles, including the homework of one Justin Gawronski.

Gawronski, along with another plaintiff, sued Amazon. The bookseller last week settled the case for $150,000, probably making this the most expensive lost homework assignment ever.

The settlement, which you can read online, doesn’t stipulate how the settlement will be divided, but does say Gawronski’s attorney “KamberEdelson LLC will donate its portion of that fee to a charitable organization that promotes literacy, children’s issues, secondary or post-secondary education, health, or job placement.”

Amazon, meanwhile, last month offered to replace the books it deleted or give $30 to each of the customers involved. It has also promised, repeatedly, to never repeat its mistake.

I hope this is the end of the story and Justin now has a nice college fund.

David Coursey tweets as @techinciter and can be contacted via his Web page.