Monday, May 5, 2025
LegalNews

Apple Hit with Class-Action Lawsuit for App Store Injunction Violations

Image courtesy of TipRanks

Apple is facing a new class-action lawsuit regarding its App Store policies and practices, according to Hagens Berman.

This is the same law firm that secured an US$100 million settlement on behalf of iOS developers “harmed by its fees and commissions.” The new lawsuit was filed May 2, following news that a federal judge found the tech giant in contempt of court for violating a 2021 antitrust injunction that required Apple to permit its app developers to sell subscriptions and other in-app products directly to their customers using links within their apps. 

Without the injunction in place Apple charges app developers uniform transaction fees (defaulting at 30%, and 15% under some programs). The court found that Apple implemented a scheme to violate the injunction and prevent developers from directing customers to their own websites and payment platforms.  

The class-action lawsuit against Apple states that the tech giant has been found to have conducted internal analyses that showed its intention to circumvent the injunction to unlawfully preserve its “ill-gotten gains” and engaged in a series of scare tactics that served to keep developers from earning their fair share of revenue from subscription apps and in-app purchases.

Under the injunction, iOS developers were to save billions of dollars in revenues by processing their own payments, funds they could reinvest int their apps and operations. But “[t]o neutralize the effect of the injunction and illicitly retain this revenue stream, Apple engaged in a series of contrivances for which it has now been held in contempt,” the lawsuit claims.

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Dennis Sellers
the authorDennis Sellers
Dennis Sellers is the editor/publisher of Apple World Today. He’s been an “Apple journalist” since 1995 (starting with the first big Apple news site, MacCentral). He loves to read, run, play sports, and watch movies.

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