Musi loses App Store case as judge rules Apple can delist apps at any time

When Apple removed the free music streaming app Musi from the App Store in 2024, the developers sued. This week, a federal judge dismissed the lawsuit with prejudice in what might become a landmark case related to App Store delistings. Here are the details.

Apple came away with about as complete a legal victory as possible

As spotted by Ars Technica, US District Judge Eumi Lee in the Northern District of California dismissed with prejudice a lawsuit Musi Inc. brought against Apple in 2024.

In a nutshell, Musi was a free streaming music app that pulled songs from YouTube, and it was delisted from the App Store after Google argued that it violated its video platform’s terms of service.

Musi, on the other hand, disputed this assertion from the start, arguing that what it did was no different than if their users accessed YouTube directly from a web browser.

Following the app’s delisting, Musi Inc. sued, and one of its arguments stated that Apple had acted in bad faith, admitting “that it knowingly relied on false evidence” to delist Musi from the App Store.

Today, Judge Lee decided that Apple is allowed to delist apps from the App Store “with or without cause,” as stipulated in the Apple Developer Program License Agreement.

The plain language of the DPLA governs because it is clear and explicit: Apple may “cease marketing, offering, and allowing download by end-users of the [Musi app] at any time, with or without cause, by providing notice of termination.” […] Based on this language, Apple had the right to cease offering the Musi app without cause if Apple provided notice to Musi. The complaint alleges, and Musi does not dispute, that Apple gave Musi the required notice. […] Therefore, Apple’s decision to remove the Musi app from the App Store did not breach the DPLA.

In addition to dismissing the lawsuit, Judge Lee also partly granted Apple’s motion for Rule 11 sanctions against Musi Inc.’s law firm, faulting its lawyers for making the “bad faith” allegation without factual support.

From her decision:

After taking two months of discovery, including deposing Apple witnesses and reviewing Apple documents, Winston & Strawn was not at liberty to make up facts to fill the perceived gaps in Musi’s case.

In its “bad faith” filing, the company’s legal team asserted that Apple and “unnamed ‘music-industry players’” had developed a “backchannel scheme” to remove Musi from the App Store, and that Apple had “‘admitted’ that it knowingly relied on false evidence” to do so.

In her decision, Judge Lee stated that “this is one of the rare cases in which Rule 11 sanctions are necessary and appropriate,” and as a result, Musi Inc.’s law firm was sentenced to pay Apple’s legal fees and costs related to the sanctions motion.

Since the lawsuit was dismissed with prejudice, this means that Musi Inc. cannot file the same claim again in court.

You can read Judge Lee’s order granting Apple’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit here, and her order partly granting Apple’s motion for Rule 11 sanctions here.