Bandcamp will keep in-app billing on Android for now, as Google & Epic battle it out [U] - 9to5Google

Now, Bandcamp is the latest reason Epic Games is taking legal action against Google, this time over the tech giant’s Android app billing crackdown.

Epic Games has filed a preliminary injunction that seeks to prevent Google from removing the Bandcamp app from the Play Store.

Currently, Bandcamp is violating Google’s terms of Android app billing by not using Play Store billing.

In a blog post, Bandcamp co-founder Ethan Diamond points out that Bandcamp has had its own billing system on Android since 2015 which allows artists to sell their music and merchandise to fans.

However, Google has tightened its billing rules over the past year and, starting June 1, Bandcamp and apps like it would be required to pay Google’s 30% cut on in-app sales.

As it stands today, Bandcamp runs its sales through PayPal, and Epic argues that switching to Google Play Billing would “require significant time and effort.” Epic does admit, though, that Bandcamp has been well aware of Google’s requirements for over a year now, and Epic knew about the change when it acquired the company.

Google considers Epic’s claim as “meritless” and points out that the 10% fee Bandcamp is eligible for is actually less than the service charges its own users.

This is yet another meritless claim by Epic, which is now using its newly acquired app Bandcamp to continue its effort to avoid paying for the value that Google Play provides.

Update 5/20: Just ahead of Google’s cut-off, Epic Games & Google have reached a joint stipulation that will keep in-app billing functional in its existing state for Bandcamp.

Epic Games will put aside 10% of all revenue generated by Bandcamp in an escrow account while Google and Epic proceed with their case.

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.