Music Publishers File $250 Million Lawsuit Against Twitter for Copyright Infringement
On Wednesday, a group of 17 music publishers filed a lawsuit against Twitter in federal court in Nashville, Tennessee, alleging that the company facilitated numerous copyright infringements by permitting users to upload music without obtaining a license.
Twitter encourages users to engage with “countless infringing copies of musical compositions,” according to the suit.
Members of the National Music Publishing Association, including Sony Music Publishing, BMG Rights Management and Universal Music Publishing Group, are seeking more than $250 million in damages for nearly 1,700 alleged copyright infringements.
The lawsuit says the longstanding violation has gotten worse since Elon Musk bought Twitter in October, and that other major platforms like TikTok, Facebook and YouTube properly license music from publishers.
Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
NMPA President David Israelite said in a statement that Twitter “is the single largest social media platform that has flatly refused to license millions of songs on its service.”
Twitter “routinely ignores” repeated violations by users tweeting unlicensed music, the publishers said, adding that Twitter encourages users to offend, which increases engagement and ad revenue while giving them an “unfair advantage” over platforms that pay for music licenses. .
“Twitter’s internal affairs regarding this case are in disarray,” the publishers said, noting that major cuts have been made to the company’s legal and trust and security teams since Musk took control.
