RismadarVoice Reporters
September 22, 2026
The United States government has backed key legal arguments advanced by Apple in its Supreme Court challenge to a civil contempt ruling arising from the technology company’s long-running legal dispute with Fortnite developer Epic Games.
The US Department of Justice, in a friend-of-the-court brief, urged the Supreme Court to narrow the circumstances under which parties can be held in civil contempt for allegedly violating court injunctions.
Although the government’s position could benefit Apple, the Justice Department said it was supporting neither Apple nor Epic Games in the case.
The Supreme Court agreed in June to hear Apple’s challenge to a California federal judge’s decision finding the company in civil contempt for allegedly violating an earlier injunction.
The dispute originates from Epic Games’ 2020 lawsuit accusing Apple of violating antitrust laws through restrictions imposed on transactions conducted through its App Store.
Epic subsequently secured an injunction requiring changes to Apple’s App Store practices.
The latest dispute arose after Apple introduced a 27 per cent commission on certain purchases completed outside its App Store.
Epic argued that the commission violated the earlier court order.
In April 2025, the lower court held Apple in contempt, concluding that the company had violated the injunction in its implementation of the new commission structure.
Apple challenged that finding, arguing that a company should not be held in contempt for conduct that an injunction did not expressly prohibit.
The Justice Department advanced a similar legal argument before the Supreme Court, maintaining that civil contempt should apply only when the conduct in question is clearly covered by the express terms of an injunction.
The government asked the Supreme Court to clarify how lower courts should apply the legal standard governing contempt findings, including the principle that there should be no reasonable doubt that a court order was violated.
However, the Justice Department did not support Apple on every aspect of the dispute.
It said Apple’s conduct relating to at least one part of the lower court’s order could support a finding of contempt.
Apple has denied violating the injunction.
Epic Games Chief Executive Tim Sweeney has maintained that Apple has resisted court rulings and regulatory decisions and said his company intends to continue challenging those practices.
The case forms part of a broader legal battle over Apple’s control of its App Store, including the commissions it charges developers and the rules governing how consumers make payments for digital goods and services.
The matter before the Supreme Court is Apple Inc. v. Epic Games Inc., No. 25-1311.
