It's almost blasphemy. Apple rejected an image of Frank Sinatra as the icon for our New York family of court rules. If Frank Sinatra is not iconic of New York, then who (or what) is?

Frank Sinatra, a/k/a/ "Ol' Blue Eyes"

Here's Apple's reasoning:

[W]e cannot post this version of your iPhone application to the App Store because it contains content that ridicules public figures and is in violation of Section 3.3.14 from the iPhone Developer Program License Agreement which states:

"Applications may be rejected if they contain content or materials of any kind (text, graphics, images, photographs, sounds, etc.) that in Apple's reasonable judgement may be found objectionable, for example, materials that may be considered obscene, pornographic, or defamatory."

Could the problem be that our first New York app is the Uniform Rules for the Family Court? Could Apple have thought we picked "The Voice" because he was married four times and divorced three? Or maybe Apple didn't like it that we identified him as "Ol' Blue Eyes?" Either possibility seems like a stretch to us.

Anyhow, we settled for a bland photo of the Empire State Building as the icon for our New York apps.

Jimmy Verner
jverner@vernerlegal.com