Epic argues Apple has 'no rights to the fruits' of its labor in 'Fortnite' filing - AppleInsider

Apple's claims of theft in Epic's lawsuit against the company over App Store rules have been argued against by the game developer once again, with a Friday filing putting forward the idea that Epic didn't "steal" anything from Apple at all.

The latest filing in the ongoing legal battle between Epic Games and Apple over "Fortnite" and monetization in the App Store features more accusations by Epic that it is innocent of claims by Apple that it was failing to fulfill contractual commitments.

Instead, Epic asserts that Apple's theft claims are absurd when applied to purchases made through its own servers.

The lawsuit covers a number of topics, but largely boils down to whether Epic should be allowed to take payments related to the iOS game through its own payment mechanism, bypassing the App Store's own transaction system that Apple mandates apps like "Fortnite" must use.

Apple tossed "Fortnite" from the App Store, prompting a lawsuit from Epic that triggered the whole affair.

"Simply put, Epic did not 'steal' anything that belonged to Apple.

Nor did Epic interfere with any prospective economic advantage Apple sought to gain from 'Fortnite' users separate and apart from their interest in 'Fortnite," the filing claims.

Later in the 20-page document, Epic likens Apple to "Epic's agent" for App Store transactions, in providing the App Store, but it "is not a party to the sales contract or user agreement" itself, in reference to iTunes legal documents.

It is then alleged that Epic was "forced to agree to make Apple its agent" for App Store sales as part of the license agreement, before openly admitting that "by offering 'Fortnite' users the choice of making purchases directly from Epic, Epic breached those contractual provisions (assuming they are legal.".