Supreme Court takes Apple contempt fight over App Store fees on third-party payments

(CN) — The Supreme Court announced Tuesday it will allow Apple to plead its case after the tech giant was found in contempt for failure to make sweeping changes to its App Store following a yearslong legal battle with Fortnite developer Epic Games.

“This is an important question of law, and we are pleased that the Supreme Court will hear our case,” an Apple spokesperson told Courthouse News.

Litigation first began in August 2020 after Epic Games surreptitiously altered its Fortnite app, allowing users to purchase in-game currency directly from Epic and bypassing Apple’s App Store payment system entirely.

Codenamed “Project Liberty” by Epic staff, the move was designed to oppose Apple’s requirement that in-app purchases use the App Store — despite Apple taking a 15% to 30% cut of all sales made through its platform.

By rebelling against Apple’s requirement, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney said, Apple would have to either change its store policies or invite litigation.

The plan worked: Within hours, Apple removed Fortnite from the App Store, prompting Epic to immediately sue the tech giant in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, claiming antitrust and anticompetitive behavior.

Apple filed a countersuit against Epic one month later, accusing Epic of breaching its contract with Apple “to be part of a marketing campaign to reinvigorate interest in Fortnite.”

In September 2021, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers issued a split decision, ruling in favor of Apple on nine of 10 counts. These included Epic’s charges related to Apple’s 30% revenue cut, as well as its prohibition against third-party marketplaces on iOS systems.

However, Apple did not get off scot-free: Rogers also found that the tech giant had been unlawfully prohibiting developers from directing users to external storefronts using in-app links and buttons.

In line with her findings, the Barack Obama appointee issued a permanent injunction blocking Apple’s previous ban on these external links for purchases.

Apple appealed the ruling, but a three-judge appeals panel upheld Rogers’ findings in April 2023; the Supreme Court also denied Apple’s appeal in January 2024.

With the case formally ended, Apple began allowing developers to direct app users to external storefronts following the ruling; it demanded a 27% commission on earnings made on in-app goods purchased through those storefronts.

That commission did not sit well with Rogers. In April 2025, the federal judge ordered Apple to halt its fees on external purchases, finding Apple had “willfully” failed to comply with her previous injunction and referring the case to the federal attorney’s office for possible criminal contempt proceedings.

In June 2025, the Ninth Circuit denied Apple’s request for an emergency stay of the no-commissions order; the Supreme Court did the same in May 2026.

However, the high court did take interest in the contempt charges brought by Rogers, allowing Apple to challenge those charges in the court’s 2026 term beginning in October.

Shortly after the Supreme Court announced it would hear Apple’s appeal, Epic Games reaffirmed its opposition to the tech giant’s practices in a post on X.

“We’re heading to the Supreme Court where we’ll continue to fight against junk fees Apple charges on third-party payments,” the developer wrote. “Lower courts have rightly found Apple’s fees to be illegal and anticompetitive and we’ll continue to defend free markets.”

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