For better or worse, many individuals and companies have realised that the court of public opinion can have as much (or even more) of an effect than the legal system can. Hence instead of settling issues in private, now a lot of organisations are trying to set off a negative PR storm aimed at their opponents that paints them as the victim/underdog.

So that's the real goal here. To cause enough of a social media controversy/enough drama over this that Apple is pressured to back down/reverse their decision without a court case, while the court case itself is a backup in case that doesn't work.

I think we're going to see a lot more of this going forward, especially when it comes to individuals and companies going against opponents with significantly more resources than them. They may not fear your legal team/resources, but they might well fear their reputation being torn to shreds.