Apple Wins Musi App Store Removal Lawsuit
A lawsuit brought against Apple by music streaming app Musi has been dismissed by a federal judge, after she ruled that Apple’s developer agreement gives it the right to remove any app from the App Store at any time, “with or without cause.”
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Musi claimed it complied with YouTube’s terms, but Apple pulled it from the App Store in September 2024, following pressure from Sony, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), and the National Music Publishers Association.
Musi subsequently sued Apple for pulling the app, alleging that its removal was based on unsubstantiated intellectual property claims from YouTube. The lawsuit went so far as to argue that Apple had violated its own Developer Program License Agreement (DPLA), and that Apple was required to conduct a review and form a “reasonable belief” that the app infringed IP rights before pulling it.
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Judge Lee sanctioned law firm Winston & Strawn for alleging that Apple had “admitted” to knowingly relying on false evidence – a claim the judge found had no factual basis, even after Musi’s lawyers had spent two months reviewing Apple’s internal documents and deposing its employees.
Lee found that Apple can remove apps “with or without cause,” as stipulated in the developer agreement. Lee wrote:
The plain language of the DPLA governs because it is clear and explicit: Apple may “cease marketing, offering, and allowing download by end-users of the [Musi app] at any time, with or without cause, by providing notice of termination.” Based on this language, Apple had the right to cease offering the Musi app without cause if Apple provided notice to Musi. The complaint alleges, and Musi does not dispute, that Apple gave Musi the required notice. Therefore, Apple’s decision to remove the Musi app from the App Store did not breach the DPLA.
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Musi alleged that Apple knowingly relied on a false claim from the National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) that Musi violated YouTube terms through use of the YouTube API. “Apple knew that this ‘evidence’ was false, as it has since admitted,” Musi wrote.
Musi said it does not use the YouTube API and is therefore not subject to the API terms of service. It says Apple knew this because of an email from Sony Music Entertainment. The email said that Sony “worked with YouTube to remove API access from Musi, but the app finds ways to access [Sony’s] content through technological means that are more difficult for Google to action.”
Lee wrote that the Sony email “does not state that Musi stopped using YouTube’s API” and “does not establish that Apple ‘knew’ that the evidence offered by the NMPA was false. Instead, Musi infers Apple’s knowledge based on an assumption that the Sony email was inconsistent with the detailed evidence offered by the NMPA.”
I’m not happy with either party here. I’m kind of sympathetic to Musi, because you could look at this as them building a site-specific browser with an ad blocker, and I think that’s legal and should be allowed. If they’re not using the API, I don’t see what agreement they would have been violating, though I do think it crosses a line to replace a site’s ads with your own. But with respect to their agreement with Apple, I don’t think they have a leg to stand on because the DPLA clearly says that Apple can do whatever they want whenever they want without any valid reason. The real issues are whether that sort of contract should be legal and why Apple is even inserting itself into a dispute between YouTube and Musi, but those were not the questions before the judge.
Everyone is complaining about app review times, but it could be worse. Apple could be telling you “we are reviewing your app concept internally.” This is the story of how Apple tried to kill my startup 🩸💁 ♂️🔫
Previously:
- Mac App Store Review Times Increasing
- Musi for YouTube Removed From the App Store
- Apple Removes VPN Apps From Russian App Store
