Apple's Plan to Pay $100 Million to Settle Developer Lawsuit Gets Preliminary Approval From Judge

[MacRumors]

Back in August, Apple said that it would pay out $100 million and make several changes to the App Store to settle a class-action lawsuit brought about by developers, and the settlement offer received preliminary approval yesterday from Judge Yvonne Gonzalez-Rogers, who is overseeing that case in addition to the Epic v. Apple lawsuit.

Under the terms of the agreement, Apple will create a $100 million "fund," which developers can access based on their historic App Store proceeds. Developers who earned $1 million or less through the U.S. storefront for their apps in every calendar year between June 4, 2015 and April 26, 2021 can receive between $250 and $30,000. Higher payments will be made to those who have participated more extensively in the App Store ecosystem.

Eligible developers will be able to make claims when the settlement receives final approval, and can sign up to be alerted when claims are being accepted through a website created for the lawsuit.

In addition to paying $100 million, Apple agreed to maintain the App Store Small Business Program in its current structure for the next three years, and it will allow developers to use communication methods like email to share information about payment methods available outside of their iOS apps.

Other terms include more App Store pricing options, the publication of an annual transparency report based on App Store data, and tools that allow developers to appeal the rejection of an app. Full details on what Apple has agreed to can be found in our original settlement article.

The lawsuit dates back to 2019, when a group of iOS developers accused Apple of using its App Store monopoly to impose "profit-killing" commissions. The developers were unhappy with Apple's 30 percent cut, an issue that was largely resolved when Apple introduced the App Store Small Business Program and cut commissions to 15 percent for developers making under $1 million in a given calendar year.

Going forward, briefs, papers, and memoranda in support of the final approval of the settlement must be filed by April 29, 2022, and a Fairness and Final Approval Hearing will take place on June 7, 2022. If and when final approval is granted, developers will begin to receive money from Apple.

Article Link: Apple's Plan to Pay $100 Million to Settle Developer Lawsuit Gets Preliminary Approval From Judge

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗]

Wow! This is huge! Which developer is going to jump on it?

 

[Wildkraut]

Apple better start repatriating more money... this won't be the last payment they will have to do.

 

[Quasselstripper]

Is this for US developers only or international?

 

[Wildkraut]

Is this for US developers only or international?

U.S. only

 

[sw1tcher]

Wow! This is huge!

Not really.

$100 million is only 0.174% of the $57.411 billion in net income Apple took in for fiscal year 2020

 

[TracesOfArsenic]

Another case where Apple could've done the right thing and offer out the "fund" proactively as they have all the sales data. They know who should be getting it yet they wait for people to come forward in the hope they don't. They make them go through a process to put a barrier up. It's poor UX and it shows exactly how money grubbing they've become and the disdain they have for the developers on their ecosystem.

 

[Wildkraut]

Not really.

$100 million is only 0.174% of the $57.411 billion in net income Apple took in for fiscal year 2020

Well depends, this money isn’t easy accessible for Apple, it’s distributed over the world, that’s why they keep asking for credit. Accessing all this money would lead to losses.

 

[now i see it]

Compared to the untold billions they’ve made off the App Store, 100 million is a rounding error.

 

[Seoras]

US developers only will benefit. That sucks. Otherwise I'd be buying myself a nice new car for xmas.
It would be better for Apple to just refund all developers and pre-empt any further litigation abroad.
That way they aren't paying court and lawyer fees on top of it all.

 

[diddl14]

Is this for US developers only or international?

 

[higgalls]

Another case where Apple could've done the right thing and offer out the "fund" proactively as they have all the sales data. They know who should be getting it yet they wait for people to come forward in the hope they don't. They make them go through a process to put a barrier up. It's poor UX and it shows exactly how money grubbing they've become and the disdain they have for the developers on their ecosystem.

Actually, my guess is that this is probably a legal requirement, because in applying for the fund will probably mean that the developer gives up any legal right to launch their own legal case over apple to try and get a better deal for themselves. These sorts of legal funds happen all the time, and you need to explicitly opt-in. Now I am not a legal expert, so I could be wrong, but that's my guess why this is the case.

 

[Cosmosent]

The Auto Opt-In Clause is a violation of my rights as a U.S. Citizen, & I will fight this !

It's a Total BS Settlement !

And BTW, macrumors didn't even include the key "Monopoly" clause of the Agreement / Settlement !!!

I will NEVER state that Apple does NOT have a Monopoly !

And for those of you who haven't been following this from the Get Go, that's the whole reason Apple agreed to the Settlement !

It's a Back Room Way for Apple to claim they don't have a Monopoly !

it's sneaky !

It's deceitful !

Total BS Settlement / Agreement !!!

The Judge should have thrown it out based strictly on the Auto Opt-In Clause & the "NO Monopoly" claim !

She clearly is NOT qualified to oversee such lawsuits !

BTW, the Lawyers get 30% of it !

So, guess what happened, the Lawyers cut a deal with Apple, Apple got what they want (the "NO Monopoly" part of it), & the Lawyers get their $30M !

This is about as Dumb as it gets for ANY Settlement / Agreement I've EVER heard about in ANY industry !

Remove the Auto Opt-In Clause & I'd be fine with it !

NO way can someone else cut a deal with Apple, & automatically make me part of an Agreement that states that Apple does NOT have a Monopoly !!!

Apple does in-deed have a Monopoly !

Basic Common Sense says so !

 

[firewood]

Apple does in-deed have a Monopoly !

Your opinion doesn't matter to anybody but you. Only the opinion of a trial judge or appeals court with jurisdiction actually might affect Apple, developers, or customers in any way. Latest U.S. court case ruled no monopoly. Under appeal, so you might be right. Or not.

 

[firewood]

I wonder if this is one of those $100M legal "settlements" where the lawyers get $99M, and each developer gets around 47 cents?

 

[hans1972]

I wonder if this is one of those $100M legal "settlements" where the lawyers get $99M, and each developer gets around 47 cents?

The attorneys will get about $30 million and I believe the cost of the program will be $2 million.

About 50% will get about $250 depending on how many who participate.

 

[TVreporter]

Tim: $100 million? Just a second, let me check between the couch pillows.

 

[crazytrain]

Well depends, this money isn’t easy accessible for Apple, it’s distributed over the world, that’s why they keep asking for credit. Accessing all this money would lead to losses.

Errr, you do realise that Apple has over $60 BILLION in cash don't you??

 

[alien3dx]

Errr, you do realise that Apple has over $60 BILLION in cash don't you??

big company dont have a lot of cash , all in fd , asset so on unless it was defined in financial report

 

[Macuserosu]

Sorry I missed where Apple put a gun to your heard and forced you to develop for iOS.

If you don’t like the rules, get out of the pool. No one will miss your app as there are thousands of other apps wanting to take your place.

 

[ronntaylor]

The Auto Opt-In Clause is a violation of my rights as a U.S. Citizen, & I will fight this !

If you qualify as a class member you will be notified. You can opt out of the settlement and take your chances fighting a behemoth that was ruled not to be a monopoly. Your only hope is that the judge is overruled on appeal. I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you.

 

[Maximara]

Your opinion doesn't matter to anybody but you. Only the opinion of a trial judge or appeals court with jurisdiction actually might affect Apple, developers, or customers in any way. Latest U.S. court case ruled no monopoly. Under appeal, so you might be right. Or not.

You failed to mention that Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers is the exact same judge that ruled Apple was NOT a monopoly. Case 4:20-cv-05640-YGR Document 812 Filed 09/10/21

Heck, in that case the judge even laid out what the base market was with regards to Epic: "Having found the relevant product market to be that of mobile gaming transactions, the Court finds the area of effective competition in the geographic market to be global, with the exception of China." I suspect that for general applications that global would apply as well.

 

[ethanwa79]

This is a huge windfall for my company. Will get me about $60k in payouts once the settlement goes through.

 

[Wildkraut]

Sorry I missed where Apple put a gun to your heard and forced you to develop for iOS.

If you don’t like the rules, get out of the pool. No one will miss your app as there are thousands of other apps wanting to take your place.

Well, they didn’t, but depending of your App type it’s a market pressure to dev for it. People are slowly shifting over to mobile platforms. As a dev you get requests like it’s available for this and that, and if you keep saying no for long, your customers might totally jump off to something else.

Apple simply reached a critical mass, with too much influence and they must get under control by law.

 

[sudo-sandwich]

Dang, haven't paid attention to this in a while. Last I read, it was looking like Epic had no case.
I don't think this was the right verdict, but oh well.