Have you downloaded a Coffee Break app from the iOS App Store or the Google Play Store? If so, unfortunately this app is unauthorised and the developers are illegally selling our copyright materials as in-app purchases. Over the past few years we’ve been having issues with a group of developers who have stolen our content and made it available through apps on the iOS App Store, and on the Google Play Store. The apps use our logos, and our premium content and are a blatant infringement of our copyright.

Unfortunately there is very little we can do about this. We’ve now been through the legal process with Apple on over thirty separate occasions. Each time Apple finds in our favour and removes the apps, but the developers simply upload the app again within a few days under a different developer account.

These apps are unauthorised and we have not licensed our content in any way to third parties to allow the development of these apps. As a result, we cannot support customers who purchase our content through the apps. We would appeal to the Coffee Break community not to download these apps.

The apps which have been uploaded to the App Store use our logos and the title of the apps normally include “Coffee Break” in some way. You’ll notice that the developers of the apps are not Radio Lingua. Apps have been uploaded by, among others, Sergey Ovseenko, Stanislav Maksimov, QVC Card, Alik Serberov, Alexander Pridachin, Nataliya Krotova, Lyudmila Filatova, Sergey Greba, Sergey Grebenkin, Eugeny Smovdarenko and Michel Thomas (see below).

It’s clear that these developers have also created apps using content from other language publishers, including the popular Michel Thomas series, Pimsleur language courses, Earworms and more. We have been in contact with some of these publishers and share their frustration.

First of all, the app developers are hoping to make money out of selling our content. However, we’re receiving an increasing number of emails from customers who have been duped into buying the apps, only to discover they don’t work, or that there is no customer support from the developers.

Secondly, and more importantly, the developers are blatantly infringing our copyright and trade marks. We are a small company and everyone involved in Radio Lingua is passionate about languages and wants to help to bring accessible learning materials to a worldwide audience. If we spend our time in legal battles with unscrupulous developers, we can’t be making more courses for you. Needless to say, the cost to our company is significant, in terms of legal fees, lost revenue and the time it takes to lodge the App Store takedown notices. This, unfortunately, will affect our ability to continue to develop the content you’re used to.

If you have purchased a Coffee Break app through the iOS App Store or the Google Play Store, we would suggest that you apply for a refund through the App Stores. Here’s a link to help you do this for Google/Android and for iOS. By requesting a refund you’ll help to ensure that the developers will not profit from the illegal use of our content.

Please understand that we cannot offer you a refund because we did not sell you the in-app purchase. We make no money whatsoever from the sale of these unauthorised apps.

Some affected customers have asked us if they should leave negative reviews for the apps. There’s no doubt about it that if a customer finds an app on the App Store with 1 star or no star reviews then they are perhaps less likely to buy. However, our aim is to have these apps removed as quickly as possible, so we don’t want our valued customers to waste their time leaving negative reviews for apps which will hopefully disappear. Equally we don’t believe in creating more negativity from an already very negative situation: we’d rather these apps were simply removed from the App Stores.

Finally, on behalf of our small team here who are disheartened every time we see the apps reappear, I would like to thank you for your patience and understanding. If you have purchased one of the apps we very much hope that you can organise a refund quickly from the App Store, and we would be delighted to see you on the Coffee Break Academy where you can purchase the authentic courses