Supreme Court Denies Apple's Stay on App Store Contempt

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected Apple's request for an emergency stay of a lower court order finding the company in contempt for violating rules governing its App Store, dealing another setback to Apple in its long-running antitrust dispute with Epic Games.

Justice Elena Kagan, acting for the court, denied Apple's application to pause a December ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. That decision upheld a 2025 contempt finding by U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in the Northern District of California but sent the case back to her court to determine an appropriate commission rate Apple may charge on purchases made through external payment links in apps.

The ruling stems from a 2020 lawsuit Epic filed after Apple removed Fortnite from the App Store for bypassing its in-app payment system, which charges developers a 30 percent commission. In 2021, the district court largely sided with Apple, ruling it did not hold an illegal monopoly, but issued an injunction requiring Apple to allow developers to include links or buttons directing users to alternative payment options.

Apple complied by permitting the links but imposed a 27 percent commission on...