Epic Games, Google sign agreement as lawsuit between the two continues

CARY – Following a status conference with the court, Epic Games and Google have come to terms for a joint stipulation agreement while the lawsuit between the two entities and their affiliates continues.

The latest agreement comes after Epic Games filed a motion for a preliminary injunction, seeking to win an injunction against Google for policies of the Google Play Store. The preliminary injunction filing alleges that the conduct of Google “violates the Sherman Act, the Cartwright Act and California’s Unfair Competition Law.”

The lawsuit involves Bandcamp, which Epic Games bought earlier this year.

As of May 20, the parties to the court proceedings had come to the agreement, known as a joint stipulation. Under the agreement, Google agreed that it would not remove or de-list the Bandcamp application from the Google Play Store.

Another term of the agreement is the payment by Epic Games (or Bandcamp) into an escrow account, the applicable fee under the Google Play Developer Distribution Agreement (DDA) for in-app transactions of digital goods and services on the app that are distributed through Google Play.

The joint stipulation agreement would terminate on the date of a final judgment in the case, Epic Games, Inc. v. Google LLC et al., Case No. 3:20-cv-05671-JD, at the trial court level, or 60 days following a notice of termination received by legal counsel of one company to the other.

Epic Games files lawsuit against Google to protect new acquisition Bandcamp from Play Store removal

What’s the case about?

The pending lawsuit states that Bandcamp is currently operating “consistent with Google’s Policy exemption” in order to use a “payment solution of its choice.”

“Bandcamp’s ability to use its preferred payment solution is critical,” the filing reads. The filing also notes that the Google Play Billing system “does not provide Bandcamp with the services it needs and comes at a price Bandcamp cannot afford.”

A statement from Bandcamp co-founder and CEO Ethan Diamond was updated last week, following the agreement.

Diamond wrote that Bandcamp will continue to operate using its existing payment system on Android devices.

“Fans can keep supporting artists on Android as they have, and we’ll continue paying artists the same share of sales (typically within 24-48 hours, as we do today),” the blog post update reads.

“Bandcamp will place 10% of the revenue generated from digital sales on Android devices in escrow until Epic’s ongoing case against Google is resolved, a cost we will bear.”

Diamond noted that the company will “continue the fight to allow artist-first business models like ours on Android.”