It was announced last Friday that the US Department of Justice has now reached a settlement with Macmillan, the last of the five publishers involved in the e-book price fixing case that has cropped up in the news several times over the past few months. This is the case that saw the five publishers (Macmillan, Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, Penguin Group and Hachette Book Group Inc), as well as Apple, accused of colluding to alter the prices of e-books.

The case is continuing against Apple and a trial is set to take place in June. As a result of their settlement with the DoJ, Macmillan has agreed to lift its restrictions on the kind of pricing promotions e-book sellers can hold. This means that retailers will be able to charge lower prices for the publisher’s e-books, and this will be monitored under the settlement’s terms.

We have already seen the e-book prices from other publishers involved in the case become lower as a result of their settlements, which should be good news for readers as titles become more affordable in e-book form.

Still, the case continues against Apple, so it looks like this is a topic we will return to again in the coming months.

In the meantime, you can read more about Macmillan’s settlement with the Department of Justice here.