They say that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result, but then the legal system can feel kind of pendulous in certain situations. That said, Apple has once again run face-first into a brick wall as the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has denied Apple’s emergency appeal to halt the enforcement of the permanent injunction that allows apps to direct to third-party processors for payment, which readers know is part of the years-long legal battle between Apple and Epic Games.

According to the panel of judges presiding over the appeal, Apple “bears the burden of showing that the circumstances justify an exercise of [our] discretion” and found that “after reviewing the relevant factors, we are not persuaded that a stay is appropriate.” This in turn means that the mobile version of Fortnite, aka the game that kicked this entire thing off, is allowed to stay on the App Store.

Apple was also dealt a blow in the EU in April as the European Commission ordered the company to comply with the Digital Markets Act, requiring the corp to update the App Store and enable app developers to link to external payment methods in now less than 30 days or face additional penalties. Apple had already been fined €500M over its anti-steering practices.

While this ruling has mostly been focused on the mobile version of Fortnite, other major apps have taken advantage of the injunction, with buttons on Amazon and Spotify apps being recently added that direct users to their own websites for payment processing in order to skirt Apple’s 30% commission fee.

Unsurprisingly, Apple is resolved to continue to fight the injunction despite the setback. “We are disappointed with the decision not to stay the district court’s order, and we’ll continue to argue our case during the appeals process,” says an Apple spokesperson. “Our goal is to ensure the App Store remains an incredible opportunity for developers and a safe and trusted experience for our users.”

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney, meanwhile, is digitally cartwheeling in victory, proclaiming on Twitter that “the long national nightmare of the Apple tax is ended.” Mind you, this was a “tax” on companies, not on users. Don’t expect any of these companies to pass their newfound savings on to you.

Readers might recall that Apple losing appeals over the injunction is not a new result, as the corporation lost every possible appeal up the entire judiciary in its attempt to overturn the 2021 ruling. And then the company decided to just ignore the ruling, which unsurprisingly drew the ire of the judge presiding on the case. The entire ridiculous saga is chronicled below.