Over the past few months, the on-going issue of the dispute between some of the biggest publishers in the world, Apple and Amazon has produced quite a few interesting stories. Here’s another one.

Amazon has said that if a legal settlement is reached with the three publishers left in the case who have been accused of price-fixing e-books, owners of the Kindle e-reader will be entitled to refunds on past purchases. This could be worth between 30c and $1.32 for the e-books in question. It’s important to note that this wouldn’t amount to a refund on all past purchases – it would only apply to e-books published by the three publishers involved in the case and bought between April 2010 and May 2012.

Still, it’s an important announcement in the case, especially as we get closer to the date when a settlement could be approved; there is a hearing on the case due in February. If the settlement goes through, it would mean that publishers would have less ability to set their own e-book prices in future. Amazon says that this would bring down the cost of e-books for Kindle owners.

You can read more about the latest developments on the e-book price-fixing case here.