Epic hits back against Apple, stating Apple “has no rights to the fruits of Epic’s labor”

The legal battle between Epic Games and Apple will surely outlive us all, as Epic has once again hit back at the company in a new filing (via The Verge).

The new filing addressed claims made in Apple’s countersuit, which itself was made in response to Epic’s legal complaint when Fortnite was removed from the App Store for circumventing Apple’s 30 per cent revenue cut on its microtransactions.

In the filing, Epic refutes Apple’s claims that the use of direct payments in Fortnite constitutes “theft.”

“Apple has no right to the fruits of Epic’s labor, other than the rights arising under a contract,” reads the filing. “Consumers who choose to make in-app purchases in Fortnite pay for Epic’s creativity, innovation and effort – to enjoy an experience that Epic has designed.

“Apple seeks to compare Epic’s conduct to stealing cash from a vault in ApplePark, or raiding Apple’s bank account. The money in Apple’s vault or bank account is the property of Apple, in which Apple unquestionably has a possessory interest; the money paid by Fortnite users is not. It is money that Fortnite users choose to pay in return for Epic’s creative endeavors.

“Apple’s repeated assertions of theft boil down to the extraordinary assertion that Epic’s collection of payments by players of Epic’s game to enjoy the work of Epic’s artists, designers, and engineers is the taking of something that belongs to Apple.”

“Simply put, Epic did not “steal” anything that belonged to Apple.” The company couldn’t “steal” proceeds from the sales of its own creative efforts, and did not “interfere with any prospective economic advantage Apple sought to gain from Fortnite users separate and apart from their interest in Fortnite”

“Apple’s repeated assertions of theft boil down to the extraordinary assertion that Epic’s collection of payments by players of Epic’s game to enjoy the work of Epic’s artists, designers, and engineers is the taking of something that belongs to Apple.”

The full filing can be found here.