Epic’s lawsuit against Apple will begin on May 3 next year

Epic’s lawsuit against Apple over the App Store monopoly and 30 percent remittance on purchases will begin on May 3 next year. The trial was not scheduled to start until the summer, but that is now earlier and it will be a trial without a jury, according to a court document. Apple and Epic have agreed that it is sufficient to allow judges to look into the case, rather than a jury. The corona pandemic has created a backlog for court cases with juries and this decision allows for an earlier trial, with a few more hearings to take place in April before the case begins. The lawsuit is about Epic’s charges against Apple. Epic argues that Apple has a monopoly position over distribution of apps on iOS and that as a result, developer remittances to Apple are too high by 30 percent, while competitors have no chance of using an alternative download store or payment system. introduced its own payment system in August, after which Apple removed Fortnite from the App Store. Google did the same in its digital app store. With its own payment system, Epic circumvented the mandatory payment of 30 percent on payments, but Apple and Google are not allowed to have their own payment system. Not everyone pays 30 percent: Amazon gives 15 percent to Apple. Epic Games then filed a legal suit against both parties over the monopoly of the two companies and the restrictions of the third-party policy. In an earlier preliminary ruling, a judge indicated that Apple may block Fortnite, but the developer account Epic owns for the Unreal Engine should not be banned.