Apple Hit With $5 Billion Class Action Lawsuit Over eBooks Availability

A lawsuit filed against Apple in California this week accuses the company of violating the state's false advertising law and other consumer laws, by intentionally misleading customers into thinking that they are purchasing digital e-books from the Apple Books app in perpetuity, when instead they are only purchasing revokable licenses to the books.

General Books Feature
The proposed class action complaint explains that Apple is required to pull a digital book or audiobook from the Apple Books app if and when it loses a license to that content, resulting in the content no longer being available in the app's store. As a result, the complaint alleges that some customers have unexpectedly found that digital books they previously purchased were no longer available to re-download, despite having paid for them. Apple removes books without warning, and without providing refunds, the complaint adds.

As noted in the complaint, the purchase screen in the Apple Books app does not include a link to any terms of service or licensing information. However, in order to set up and use an iPhone, iPad, Mac, or other Apple device, users are required to agree to Apple's various software license agreements, which all state the following:

By using this software in connection with an Apple Account, or other Apple Services, you agree to the applicable terms of service, such as the latest Apple Media Services Terms and Conditions […]

In the Apple Media Services Terms and Conditions, Apple states the following:

Purchased Content will generally remain available for you to download, redownload, or otherwise access from Apple. Though it is unlikely, subsequent to your purchase, Content may be removed from the Services and become unavailable for further download or access from Apple (for instance, because Apple loses its right from the Content provider to make it available). To ensure your ability to continue enjoying Content, we encourage you to download all purchased Content to a device in your possession and to back it up.

The lawsuit, Morehouse et al v. Apple, Inc., was filed in a U.S. district court in San Jose on Tuesday. The plaintiffs are seeking up to $5 billion in damages, with the proposed class being all individuals who purchased a digital book or audiobook from the Apple Books store within the to-be-determined class period. A judge has yet to be assigned to the case, and it remains to be seen if the class action lawsuit is certified and proceeds to trial.

The complaint was filed by law firm Siri & Glimstad LLP.

Popular Stories

iOS 19 Mock WWDC25 Feature

iOS 19 Expected to Run on These iPhones

Monday March 31, 2025 5:28 pm PDT by
iOS 19 will not be available on the iPhone XR, iPhone XS, or the iPhone XS Max, according a private account on social media site X that has accurately provided information on device compatibility in the past. The iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max all have an A12 Bionic chip, so it looks like iOS 19 will discontinue support for that chip. All other iPhones that run iOS 18 are expected...
maxresdefault

Apple Releases iOS 18.4 With Priority Notifications, Ambient Music, New Emoji and More

Monday March 31, 2025 10:03 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4, the fourth major updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating system updates that came out last year. iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 come two months after Apple released iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to...
watchOS 11 Thumb 2 1

Apple Releases watchOS 11.4 With Sleep Alarm Update

Tuesday April 1, 2025 10:34 am PDT by
Apple today released watchOS 11.4, the fourth major update to the operating system that runs on the Apple Watch. watchOS 11.4 is compatible with the Apple Watch Series 6 and later, all Apple Watch Ultra models, and the Apple Watch SE 2. watchOS 11.4 can be downloaded on a connected iPhone by opening up the Apple Watch app and going to General > Software Update. To install the new software,...
AirPods Pro Firmware Feature

Apple Releases New Firmware for AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4

Monday March 31, 2025 11:27 am PDT by
Apple today released new firmware updates for all AirPods 4 and AirPods Pro 2 models. The new firmware is version 7E93, up from the 7B21 firmware that was installed on the AirPods Pro 2 and the 7B20 firmware available on the AirPods 4 and AirPods 4 with ANC. It is not immediately clear what new features or changes are included in the new firmware, but we'll update this article should we find ...
iPhone 17 Pro 34ths Perspective

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 10 New Features

Sunday March 23, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of March 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
macOS Sequoia Feature

Apple Releases macOS Sequoia 15.4 With Mail Categorization and More

Monday March 31, 2025 10:04 am PDT by
Apple today released macOS Sequoia 15.4, the fourth major update to the macOS Sequoia operating system that launched in September. macOS Sequoia 15.4 comes two months after the launch of macOS Sequoia 15.3. Mac users can download the ‌‌macOS Sequoia‌‌ update through the Software Update section of System Settings. It is available for free on all Macs able to run macOS 15. With...

Top Rated Comments

Kar98 Avatar
22 hours ago at 07:42 am
If buying isn’t owning then piracy isn’t stealing.
Score: 76 Votes (Like | Disagree)
iObama Avatar
22 hours ago at 07:27 am
This is why I buy physical copies of things and obtain digital ones.
Score: 35 Votes (Like | Disagree)
goodcow Avatar
22 hours ago at 07:37 am

In other words, if I agree to terms and conditions they don't apply. Yeesh. Lawyers want money. Nothing more, nothing less.
Nobody is reading through dense, legalistic terms and conditions, yourself included.
Score: 35 Votes (Like | Disagree)
switz Avatar
22 hours ago at 07:37 am
Had a major book set (Harry Potter set) I had purchased in the Apple Book store disappear from all my computers with no notice. The author got her royalties from the purchase, but I lost the ability to read what I had access to. Sucks big time.
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sw1tcher Avatar
22 hours ago at 07:35 am

This happened to me with Amazon music. I had purchased multiple MP3 albums over the years that disappeared because Amazon lost the license to sell them so I could not redownload them even though I had purchased them.

I did not realize this could be a thing for books too!!
This can happen to all digital media. Music, Books, and Movies/TV Shows. If you don't have it physically in your hands, it can be taken away from you. If you buy it in digital format, back it up.

https://www.businessinsider.com/playstation-removes-hundreds-of-purchased-discovery-shows-from-library-2023-12
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Aquaporin Avatar
22 hours ago at 07:26 am
This happened to me with Amazon music. I had purchased multiple MP3 albums over the years that disappeared because Amazon lost the license to sell them so I could not redownload them even though I had purchased them.

I did not realize this could be a thing for books too!!
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)