The US Supreme Court has agreed to hear Apple’s appeal over a lower court ruling that held the company in contempt related to its Epic Games case and app fees. Update: Apple has shared a statement with 9to5Mac about the decision, added below, alongside Epic’s response.
Apple will get to make its case over contempt finding to US Supreme Court
Leah Nylen writes at Bloomberg:
The Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal by Apple Inc. regarding a contempt ruling in its long-running antitrust battle with Fortnite-maker Epic Games Inc.
In a brief order Tuesday, the justices said they will review lower court decisions that said the iPhone-maker willfully defied a 2021 ruling involving developer fees for its lucrative App Store. […]
The Supreme Court’s order on Tuesday indicated that it would not consider a second issue that Apple raised challenging the judge’s decision to enter a so-called “universal injunction” covering how the company dealt with all developers worldwide. Apple had argued that the injunction ran afoul of the justices’ ruling in an unrelated case last year that narrowed the power of judges to issue such sweeping directives.
Last month, we reported that Apple had sought a Supreme Court review of the case in question.
The point that will be reviewed involves Apple charging developers a fee on purchases made outside the company’s own In-App Purchase system.
In short, in 2021 it was ruled that Apple must allow apps to offer external links by which users can pay for services and subscriptions. But Apple implemented commissions related to those links, and that practice was later ruled as being in violation of the original order.
Apple disagrees, saying the injuction didn’t prevent it from instituting new fees on external purchases. And now, the Supreme Court will hear its appeal.
Update: An Apple spokesperson shared the following statement with 9to5Mac:
“This is an important question of law and we are pleased the Supreme Court will hear our case.”
And Epic Games posted the following on X:
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