\n<\/p>\n
In Apple\u2019s seemingly never-ending lawsuit with Fortnite maker Epic Games over App Store commissions, the iPhone maker is once again fighting a court\u2019s ruling. Its latest tactic? Saying that Epic Games\u2019 beef with Apple over its fee structure shouldn\u2019t lead to an injunction that applies to all developers that publish on the U.S. App Store, including other tech giants like Microsoft and Spotify, which weren\u2019t a part of this particular litigation.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2026Epic never brought a class action and never attempted to show that enjoining Apple\u2019s conduct against all other developers\u2014like Microsoft or Spotify, who have nothing to do with Epic\u2014was somehow necessary to provide relief to Epic,\u201d reads Apple\u2019s new petition, which asks the U.S. Supreme Court to review the lower court ruling. <\/p>\n
In the same document, Apple also argues against the Ninth Circuit\u2019s civil contempt<\/a> order over Apple\u2019s compliance with the injunction. The court had ruled that Apple must give developers the right to include links in their apps \u2014 links that could direct users to alternative payment options outside of Apple\u2019s own system \u2014 if they chose to do so. Apple did permit this as required, but charged fees on those outside purchases, leading to the contempt order.<\/p>\n The Ninth Circuit said that charging fees of 27% on external payments defeated the purpose of allowing them \u2014 which, well, it did. But Apple is pushing back on specific legal grounds. Its new argument focuses on whether a federal court can hold a party in civil contempt for violating the \u201cspirit\u201d of an injunction when the injunction itself was written in a way that left room for interpretation and said nothing about commissions. (That is, it didn\u2019t specifically prohibit<\/em> fees on external purchases, so technically<\/em>, Apple believes it did nothing wrong.)<\/p>\n Apple has seemingly infinite money to fund its legal battles. The company has been fighting Epic\u2019s original 2020 lawsuit for over five years now with no end in sight.<\/p>\n Epic Games criticized Apple\u2019s latest move as \u201cone last Hail Mary to delay a conclusion to this case and avoid opening up the gates to payment competition for the benefit of consumers.\u201d <\/p>\n Earlier this month,<\/a> the Supreme Court rejected Apple\u2019s request<\/a> to pause additional proceedings<\/a> until the court could determine whether the sanctions were justified.<\/p>\n This week, Epic Games announced<\/a> that Fortnite was back in the App Store globally (save for Australia), because it believes the court is on its side and will not allow Apple\u2019s fee structure to stand as-is.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission<\/a>. This doesn\u2019t affect our editorial independence.<\/em><\/p>\n