I've never tried sprouting maples, but many seeds need a cold treatment before they will sprout. The ones you have in the fridge have had the cold treatment, but they may now be waiting for warmer temperatures to tell them that spring is here. You might take some of them out of the fridge and plant them in potting soil, keep it moist and at room temperature or in a sunny window, and see if they start to grow.

Start maple from seeds is easy,1:soak the seeds in hot,but not boiling water for 24-32 hours.2:put in moist peat for 60-120 days in the cooler side of the fridge,chilling period must be within the time frame or no success!Maples seeds must goes to a chill period before it germinates.WET!That's where the problem is.....MOIST is the ideal,wet spagnum only makes the seeds to rot,before it even has a chance to sprout,and remember one thing,not all seeds will germinate,200 seedlings out of 500 seeds sow.The rate might be higher or lesser,will depend on the source of seeds,good luck!

I might also add that my experience last year had many seeds taking 4-5 months in the fridge to germinate ...maybe heating in hot water as above stated prior to refrigeration would have speeded that up I don't know??? I also used a captain dampened towel wadded up in the sealed plastic bag...and rewtted periodically with liquid captain (fungicide) to keep any mold from forming .
There is a rumor that I have no idea if it's true but it sounds possible that you are NOT suppose to put any seeds near fruits or vegitables or in a veggie bin with said fruit or vegestables ... it is "said" that there are some chemicals given off by aging fruit or vegestables that can cause the seeds to not sprout. I have no idea whether this is true or an old wives geezeer tail and if anyone with more scientific knowledge than I ( which shouldn't be too hard ;>) ) wants to pipe in on this rumor please feel free David

Red Maples ripen and shed their seeds in late spring to early summer. They should germinate, some at least, immediately after dispersal given the right conditions. I wonder about the viability of the seed you received given none of your room temperatures seeds sprouted.

I often forget this forum involves other maples not just JM's ... Gink's seed maturation time period is correct for Acer Rubum...NOT Acer Palmatum... Many folks refer to JM's as "red maples" I of couse have no idea in this case which the original poster is referring to... David

I assumed the OP was referring to Acer rubrum. Red-leaf Norway maples are often referred to as 'red maples' as well.

Myersphcf, that is fake seeds will still sprout before people grew seeds how did fruit trees sprout? They had to rot off.