The contract with the submitter is not going to protect Apple. The submitter cannot grant Apple the right to distribute code belonging to someone else. At bes

The contract with the submitter is not going to protect Apple. The submitter cannot grant Apple the right to distribute code belonging to someone else. At best, the contract can be used to show that Apple acted in good faith, and thus limiting the damages to be paid to the owner (here, the FSF). But since the FSF doesn't usually demand damages, that is not relevant for this case. The DMCA safe harbor provision (which protects sites like Hacker News) will not protect Apple either unless the application is free. In which case Apple should respond to a DMCA takedown notice.