Apple has agreed to pay $25 million to settle the case"Family Sharing"Features of class actions. "Family Sharing"Features allow users and up to five family members to share their purchased apps, movies, TV shows, and books. The lawsuit was first filed in 2019, alleging:"Apple misrepresented its ability to share subscription apps using its Home Sharing feature"。
Apple denies that it made any misleading misrepresentations, and, according to the lawsuit"Deny all allegations of wrongdoing"。The settlement agreement states"Apple believes that continuing to defend this lawsuit will be a heavy burden and expensive expense. By entering into this Agreement, Apple does not in any way admit any fault, liability, or misconduct of any kind. "
Court documents in the lawsuit say Apple will be in advertising"Family Sharing"As not supported"Family Sharing"An option for the application.
The court documents read:"The vast majority of subscription-based apps, which make up a growing percentage of Apple apps, can't be shared with designated family members. Only individual users who have applied the app and set up a subscription can use these apps. However, all or nearly all of these apps have a statement of support for Family Sharing on their landing pages until January 30, 2019. "
The lawsuit alleges that Apple knew the subscription-based apps were not supported"Family Sharing", but still cast on these applications"Family Sharing"Ad. The court documents also state that"Millions of consumers** have subscription-based apps that they think support home sharing, only to learn after paying for them that they don't"。
U.S. residents who signed up for a Family Sharing group with at least one other person between June 21, 2015 and January 30, 2019 and purchased a subscription to an app from the App Store during that time may be eligible for coverage. Eligible class members will receive an email this week.
Each class member who files a claim is eligible for a $30 award, but this amount may vary depending on the number of people filing a claim. However, the amount of compensation will not exceed $50 per class member, and $10 million of the settlement will be used to pay attorneys' fees.
Eligible class members have until March 1, 2024 to file a claim. The final approval hearing is scheduled for April 2, 2024.