Apple faces $5 billion class action lawsuit over eBooks purchases

The post Apple faces $5 billion class action lawsuit over eBooks purchases appeared first on Android Headlines.

Apr 4, 2025 - 13:38

Summary: Apple is facing a $5 billion class action lawsuit over eBooks. Customers claim that Apple misled them into thinking the eBooks they purchased were theirs to keep forever.

Apple has been hit with a $5 billion class action lawsuit over eBooks. The lawsuit alleges that Apple is in violation of Califonia’s false advertising law by “intentionally misleading” customers. Customers aren’t happy to learn that when they purchase an e-book from Apple’s Books app, they do not actually own the book. Instead, they are merely purchasing a revocable license to it.

Owning content in the digital era

Does this sound familiar? This is because it is similar to songs and albums purchased through platforms like iTunes. When you buy a digital copy of a song from a storefront like iTunes, you don’t actually own the song. Not in the same way you would if you were to buy a CD of that song/album.

According to Apple’s support page, “Content you purchase from Apple will generally remain available for you to redownload or otherwise access from Apple. Though it is unlikely, content may be removed from Apple Media Services and become unavailable for further download or access.”

Apple notes that this can happen as a result of the company losing the rights from the content provider. This is also the same reason why you notice that sometimes your favorite Netflix shows are no longer available. This is because the rights to license that show has expired. So, neither Netflix nor the rights holder wants to renew the license for it.

One agreement to cover them all

That said, one reason behind the lawsuit is that Apple fails to provide a link to any terms of service or licensing information. This means the complaint alleges that some customers might not be aware of this temporary revocable license. They might also be purchasing it in good faith, thinking they will get to keep the copy of the ebook forever.

However, as MacRumors points out, users must agree to the various software licenses when they set up an Apple product. This is a blanket agreement that states that by agreeing to this, the user also agrees to the terms of other Apple service terms. Apple hasn’t responded to the lawsuit. It is also unclear if the class action lawsuit will be certified and proceed to trial.

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