Apple, one of the biggest tech giants, has confirmed that it will pay $25 million to settle the class nation lawsuit, alligated over its Family Sharing Feature. As a result, users can share their access to apps, music, TV shows, and books with a maximum of 5 of their family members. The lawsuit was first filed against the company in 2019, with the core allegation being that Apple has not revealed the correct ability or method of using its Family Sharing Feature to allow its users to share their subscriptions to apps with each other.
What Does the Settlement Says?
The lawsuit states that Apple is falsifying the statement by conducting any misleading or misrepresentation in the Family Sharing Feature. The settlement confirms that continuing this action will result in more burden and expenses. Therefore, Apple concluded the lawsuit by announcing that it would pay $25 million. However, Apple is still persisting in not making any fault or conducting any wrong doing. On the other hand, the court documents depict that the lawsuit alleges that Apple has used its Family Sharing option just for advertisement purposes for the apps that do not even support this feature.
Statement on Court Documents
As per the information revealed by the Macrumors, numerous subscription-based apps launched by Apple do not allow the sharing feature with family members. Moreover, they are available only for the users who install the app on their mobiles and set up subscriptions. However, Apple has claimed that all of these apps support the Family Sharing feature, as mentioned on their landing pages, released on January 30, 2019. The court documents have included them all to make the perfect decision.
Decision of Court
The court has concluded that Apple is aware that the Family subscription model is not working on the apps. Still, they have paced advertisements to promote this feature. The court has further claimed that millions of users have downloaded subscription-based apps to use this feature. However, they have learned after purchasing the membership that the feature is not functional on the apps.
US residents who have enrolled themselves in a Family Sharing Group with one another person between June 2015 to January 2019, and have also purchased the subscription will be able to receive the amount. All the eligible members will receive the email shortly after this settlement.
What Will be the Amount?
Each member who has filed a complaint against the company is set to receive $40 from the settlement amount. In addition, the amount may vary based on the number of people claiming this amount. However, nobody will receive more than $50 as explained by the court. Besides, the $10 million from the settlement money will be forwarded to the attorney fees for the whole lawsuit.
