Judge Orders Apple to Produce Documentation from CEO Tim Cook in 'Fortnite' Lawsuit

A judge has ordered Apple to produce extensive documentation from CEO Tim Cook and Senior VP Craig Federighi in the lawsuit filed by Epic Games over its megapopular game Fortnite.

Apple Insider reports that the lawsuit between Epic Games and Apple is still ongoing, with Epic requesting that Apple produce extensive documentation surrounding the Apple App Store and its operations. A filed court document states that Apple will have a large burden placed on it to provide the extensive information that Epic is requesting.

In this case, the court initially sided with Apple stating that Epic must not ask for more amplifying data unless absolutely necessary. But, Epic has requested that Apple CEO Tim Cook and Apple’s senior vice president of software engineering Craig Federighi provide deposition for the hearing.

Apple claimed that Cook will be available but requests that his deposition be limited to four hours. Apple also requested that Erik Neuenschwander, who directly reports to Craig Federighi, replace Federighi. The judge denied both requests stating that Tim Cook’s time limitations will not be determined until Epic receives all the proper documents from Apple.

The judge also denied that Neuenschwander be allowed to replace Federighi, arguing that if Epic sees Federighi’s leadership position over all iOS as more significant, then it is on Epic if it is wrong about his significance.

The next deadline for court filing is January 6, 2021, to discuss expert declaration.

The legal dispute began on August 13 when Epic Games published a version of Fortnite to the Apple App Store which featured an alternate payment system to Apple’s Apple Pay system which takes a 30 percent cut of all payments made through iOS apps. Apple removed the game from its App Store and Epic Games sued Apple later that day.

In response, Apple suspended Epic Games’ developer account, preventing the company from creating new apps or updating Fortnite on Apple’s platforms. Apple attempted to block Epic’s Unreal Engine from its platforms but a judge recently ruled that doing so would be unfair and would affect developers using the Unreal Engine that have no link to the lawsuit.

Apple is now claiming that Epic is liable for breach of contract and other counts, seeking restitution of all money Fortnite collected via its payment system and seeking a permanent injunction banning any external payment mechanism in all apps. Apple’s response alleges that the site was blindsided by the Epic lawsuit and noted that Epic executives “recognized and thanked Apple for its support and promotion of Fortnite events” as recently as April 2020.