Major News Outlets Seek Permission to Share Steve Jobs' iPod Lawsuit Deposition Video

Some of the last known video of Steve Jobs, from the deposition tape that was played in court last Friday, may be made public as a group of lawyers representing CNN, Bloomberg, and the Associated Press filed a motion earlier this week to have it released (via CNET).

Up until now, both Apple and the plaintiffs in the case have asked the court to consider the video "regular testimony," which would prevent it from being shown outside the court walls. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers has not yet sealed the evidence, however, leaving open the possibility of the video being made publicly available. Representing all three media outlets, attorney Thomas Burke cited public interest as a major argument for releasing the video.

"Given the substantial public interest in the rare posthumous appearance of Steve Jobs in this trial, there simply is no interest that justifies restricting the public's access to his video deposition," attorney Thomas Burke wrote in the filing Monday.

steve-jobs-iphone
Burke sent an official email request to broadcast the video on Sunday, to which Apple's lead attorney, Bill Isaacson replied, "Apple does not consent to your request. We are preparing a substantive response to your points and will get that to you tonight hopefully."

Jobs' deposition video is acting as evidence in the ongoing lawsuit dating back to 2005 that sees Apple facing accusations of attempting to enforce a monopoly over the iPod and iTunes by shutting out competing services.

In the video, Jobs echoed much of the same sentiment Apple has expressed in the case so far, stating that "We had pretty much black and white contracts with the labels," and that preventing the iPod from playing music from competing music services was "collateral damage."

Apple has yet to comment on the attempt to make the video public since Isaacson's initial response. According to the plaintiff's lawyers in the iPod case, whether or not the deposition video is released to the public is entirely up to Apple.

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro Lower Logo Feature 1

iPhone 17 Pro Coming Soon With These 14 New Features

Monday June 30, 2025 1:08 pm PDT by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are less than three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Apple is expected to launch the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max in September this year. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an...
Apple Watch Ultra Night Mode Screen

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Launching Later This Year With Two Key Upgrades

Wednesday July 2, 2025 1:13 pm PDT by
The long wait for an Apple Watch Ultra 3 appears to be nearly over, and it is rumored to feature both satellite connectivity and 5G support. Apple Watch Ultra's existing Night Mode In his latest Power On newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that the Apple Watch Ultra 3 is on track to launch this year with "significant" new features, including satellite connectivity, which would let you...
A18 Pro Chip

New MacBook With A18 Pro Chip Spotted in Apple Code

Monday June 30, 2025 8:05 am PDT by
Apple is developing a MacBook with the A18 Pro chip, according to findings in backend code uncovered by MacRumors. Earlier today, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reported that Apple is planning to launch a low-cost MacBook powered by an iPhone chip. The machine is expected to feature a 13-inch display, the A18 Pro chip, and color options that include silver, blue, pink, and yellow. MacRumors...
iPhone 17 Pro Lower Logo Magsafe

iPhone 17 Pro's New MagSafe Design Revealed in Leaked Photo

Wednesday July 2, 2025 8:37 am PDT by
The upcoming iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are rumored to have a slightly different MagSafe magnet layout compared to existing iPhone models, and a leaked photo has offered a closer look at the supposed new design. The leaker Majin Bu today shared a photo of alleged MagSafe magnet arrays for third-party iPhone 17 Pro cases. On existing iPhone models with MagSafe, the magnets form a...
macbook air spacegray purple

Apple Planning to Launch Low-Cost MacBook Powered By iPhone Chip

Monday June 30, 2025 3:20 am PDT by
Apple is planning to launch a low-cost MacBook powered by an iPhone chip, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. In an article published on X, Kuo explained that the device will feature a 13-inch display and the A18 Pro chip, making it the first Mac powered by an iPhone chip. The A18 Pro chip debuted in the iPhone 16 Pro last year. To date, all Apple silicon Macs have contained M-series...
iOS 18

Apple Releases Second iOS 18.6 Public Beta

Tuesday July 1, 2025 10:19 am PDT by
Apple today seeded the second betas of upcoming iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 updates to public beta testers, with the betas coming just a day after Apple provided the betas to developers. Apple has also released a second beta of macOS Sequoia 15.6. Testers who have signed up for beta updates through Apple's beta site can download iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 from the Settings app on a compatible...
Wi Fi WiFi General Feature

iOS 26 Adds a Useful New Wi-Fi Feature to Your iPhone

Wednesday July 2, 2025 6:36 am PDT by
iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 add a smaller yet useful Wi-Fi feature to iPhones and iPads. As spotted by Creative Strategies analyst Max Weinbach, sign-in details for captive Wi-Fi networks are now synced across iPhones and iPads running iOS 26 and iPadOS 26. For example, while Weinbach was staying at a Hilton hotel, his iPhone prompted him to fill in Wi-Fi details from his iPad that was already...
maxresdefault

Five Features Coming to AirPods Pro 3

Friday June 27, 2025 10:52 am PDT by
Apple hasn't updated the AirPods Pro since 2022, and the earbuds are due for a refresh. We're counting on a new model this year, and we've seen several hints of new AirPods tucked away in Apple's code. Rumors suggest that Apple has some exciting new features planned that will make it worthwhile to upgrade to the latest model. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Heal...
replay all time playlist apple music

Apple Music Debuts All-New Personalized Playlist

Monday June 30, 2025 7:16 am PDT by
As part of its 10-year celebrations of Apple Music, Apple today released an all-new personalized playlist that collates your entire listening history. The playlist, called "Replay All Time," expands on Apple Music's existing Replay features. Previously, users could only see their top songs for each individual calendar year that they've been subscribed to Apple Music, but now, Replay All...

Top Rated Comments

gibbz Avatar
138 months ago
This seems more like a Steve Jobs fetishism from the media than a genuine concern about public interest.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Traverse Avatar
138 months ago
I can picture Apple's response (if it was (is) up to them)...

Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mbh Avatar
138 months ago
Given the substantial public interest...

Translation: Think of all the clicks we could get if we had that video!
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
gnasher729 Avatar
138 months ago
Public interest is a reason to release evidence? That sounds a bit strange to me.

I think these lawyers are confusing "in the public interest" with "things that a nosy public is interested in".
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
4jasontv Avatar
138 months ago
Will so much public interest in what Steve had to say, you would think it would be easier to make a movie about him.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Solomani Avatar
138 months ago
In other words…. the big media networks are still trying to cash in on the Cult of Steve Jobs. The Deification of the Demigod known as Steve Jobs.

They want to be the first to show this video clip of the deceased deity. And they hope that it will bring tons of click-views, and revenue, to their websites and news programs.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)