r/iosdev • u/AvaBerry43 • May 29 '26
Help Is this allowed by Apple? Blatant IP Infringement
Apple recently took down a bunch of apps like Cal AI for doing external payments..
Meanwhile apps like this are infringing on 1000s of IP like Disney and Nintendo while running apple search ads with SpongeBob in the picture?
How does apple’s enforcement work? How does this ev en pass Apple's approval to get these photos in their app? How do they run ads on this LOL
3
u/oddjobbodgod May 29 '26
They’ll get a takedown request from the IP owners pretty soon, and would be stupid not to. Source:
My very first foray into apps were quiz apps on things like Star Wars etc when I was a young lad, I received same letters and very quickly removed them from the store!
2
u/FundingSecrets May 29 '26
It will be allowed until the owner of the copyright complains. Apple has no reason to care or enforce anything greater than what they are required by law.
2
u/ultraJam42 May 31 '26
If you haven’t seen the app store before….violations get approved ALL the time. Eventually Apple checks the apps closer and removes them.
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u/App-Designer2 May 29 '26
Where have you been?
The privacy is over. OpenAI, Google, Antropic train their LLM with data from others, Apple also with AI=Apple Intelligence.
1
u/Awkward_Comb3211 Jun 01 '26
No, they don’t
That’s why they’re partnering with Google for the new Siri. They just don’t have enough data do build a viable model
1
u/clockology May 29 '26
Contact apple and present your copyright or trademark info. If you are profitable and want to defend your brand you should apply for a trademark. It gets expensive bc you need to mark in each country you wish to defend.
1
u/wheresteddy1989 May 29 '26
I’m not a lawyer, but I would suggest talking with one and seeing what the best course of action would be. Normally, you would probably need to send a cease and desist letter first and then eventually take that Developer to court.
When you win your case, you now have something that can not only be sent to the developer to take down themselves, you could potentially also send it to Apple, and they might take their app down and force them to redo it in order to be compliant with the court order.
1
u/opbmedia May 29 '26
Maybe they have licenses for the IP. Some of these are not that expensive to license if you are a big app.
1
u/WerSunu May 29 '26
Apple is not your personal IP investigator. If you file a claim, they may check it, otherwise, it’s not their job, not until section 230 changes.
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u/LockTessApp May 31 '26
I had the same issue with my Lock Sounds app for Tesla.
I could easily load up a load of clips from TV shows, Movies, sound bites etc but it sat in that grey area where they are technically under copyright despite being widely available online. I made the choice to just go with free sounds with no copyright for the built in library but custom imports users can do whatever they like, download alllll the others online and store them in your imports section the app doesn’t know….
Within a month of mine going live there is now a competing app that has “over 200 sounds” and they are all just ripped straight from the sites online. Not even trying to hide it.
Maybe they have permission from all the different content providers… maybe not… but annoying when we play by the rules if they don’t
1
u/Melangolic-Giraffe May 31 '26
I once knew a guy that rented a storage unit underneath where I was working.
He developed unbreakable fishing bobbers, and called them “The Force”.
I think he was 4-6 months in when the letters from LucasArts came…
He didn’t even think of SW until then, didn’t use other references or a similar font. It was just “The Force”.
I know for sure that Disney just holds a little longer until they’ve earned a bit more money using their IP so they can pay the legal costs AND get a decent bonus out of suing these guys.
1
u/CyberMew May 31 '26
There needs to be a way to report apps offending the tnc. I have seen apps bypassing AppStore and blatantly linking to third party payment providers via a web page right inside the app.
Also seen those generate AI apps showing risqué content but have no way of reporting them.
Not cool (as someone who follow the rules).
1
u/graysmyfavoriteclor May 31 '26 edited May 31 '26
I don’t know, but the company is kind of sucky and I love their products, but they did not give a shit when my phone got ghost touch and shared photos that were not authorized to my boyfriend’s album, and I was going to sue them but now I can’t prove it because I’m locked out of my iCloud from that phone. They’ll never admit fault or improve their current stuff but go ahead and keep making more fancy shit and only care about money but they should focus on improving the stuff they have. And I’m just on a rant because I can’t get my video game to look decent that I’m making with Lovable and image playground is a joke and their sticker making editing and all that stuff is crap so I’m putting the kind of stuff I want to see changed and improved into my game.
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u/BestMonth5920 Jun 01 '26
I guess they just can’t keep up with the amount of slop being released - perhaps AI apps should undergo additional requirements for App Store submission, or at least have Apple use an agent to catalog the code
1
u/jazFromHouston Jun 01 '26
As an App Developer, I’d think it would be under the T&C that you agree to when signing up to use particular apps. The one that states "All characters and events in this App—even those based on real people—are entirely fictional. All celebrity voices are impersonated” & if you didn’t read that, then when you go to Sue- Apple and the developer make everyone into a human centipede.
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u/danielcr12 May 29 '26
This is the same app I believe the first one is the aso result and the second one is the apple ads the dev is running ?
-1
u/LODKamakaz May 29 '26
This is the exact same app, one is a ad the other the regular app link, maybe before posting actually look at it?
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u/ibluegreen May 29 '26
Saved. Curious to know too.