
Apple has agreed to pay out $25 million in a bid to settle a class action petition over its Family Sharing feature which lets users and up to five of their family members share access to apps, music, movies, TV shows and books that they purchase.
Filed in 2019, the lawsuit alleged that “Apple misrepresented the ability to use its Family Sharing feature to share subscriptions to apps.”
Apple denies that it made any misleading misrepresentations and “denies all allegations of wrongdoing,” the lawsuit added.
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The settlement agreement notes that “Apple has concluded that continuing to defend this Action would be burdensome and expensive. Apple enters into this Agreement without in any way acknowledging any fault, liability, or wrongdoing of any kind.”
Court documents from the lawsuit claim that Apple endorsed the feature as an option on apps that did not support Family Sharing.
Despite being knowledgeable of the fact that subscription-based apps did not support it, Apple placed an ad for the Family Sharing feature on them.
“Millions of consumers have downloaded subscription-based Apps believing that they are available for Family Sharing, only to learn after payment has been made that they are not so available” petition document maintained.
Eligible class members are those US residents who were enrolled in 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. Meanwhile, an email will be sent to them.
With a validity to file a claim until March 1, 2024, each class member is eligible to receive between $30 and $50, depending on how many people file claims.
However, the payment will not exceed $50 for each class member, and $10 million from the settlement will go toward attorney fees.