> What's actually wrong with this?
It's because they did not choose to pay for the books; they were forced to pay and they would not have done so if the lawsuit had not fallen this way.
If you are not sure why this is different from "they paid for pirated books (as if it were a transaction)", then this may reflect a lack of awareness of how fair exchange and trust both function in a society.
Settling is not forced
Not sure what point that's trying to make. Settling is a) a tacit admission that you feel you might lose, b) thinking legal costs will be to expensive to win, c) thinking the bad publicity of the trial dragging on isn't worth your time, d) just no wanting to spend the cycles dealing with it.
Settling isn't "forced", but it's a choice that tells you that the company believes settling is a better deal for them than letting the trial go forward. That's something.
You think they would have done it if they didn't get taken to court?