Snapchat Settled Its Huge Copyright Lawsuit While We Ogled the iPhone

At 1 p.m. today, the known universe was watching a stream of the Apple Live event. That's the moment Snapchat's public relations team picked to announce a settlement between the company and a former founder.

At 1 p.m. today, the known universe was staring at a stream of the Apple Live event. Well, some of us were staring at a color bar screen. Still, the digital world was preoccupied by Tim Cook, iPhone 6 and the promise of a really cool new piece of wrist candy. That's the moment Snapchat's public relations team picked to announce a settlement between the company and a former founder, Frank Reginald Brown. While Snapchat was obviously hoping to bury the news under a pile of iPhones, it still made the rounds.

Brown was one of the company's three original co-founders (the other two are Evan Spiegel and Robert Murphy) and The Verge believes he was vying for one third of the company's worth, over a billion dollars. He claimed that he invented the "ephemeral messaging" idea while he was a student at Stanford University. It is unclear how much the settlement was for, as it was settled outside of court and SnapChat has not returned a request for comment on the matter.

Spiegel, a very fratty bro, had this to say, "We are pleased that we have been able to resolve this matter in a manner that is satisfactory to Mr. Brown and the Company. We acknowledge Reggie’s contribution to the creation of Snapchat and appreciate his work in getting the application off the ground."