Roblox is being sued by Music Publishers Association for at least $200 million
Image credit: Roblox
Publishers claim that Roblox is “Illegally using songs” by artists such as Ariana Grande and Imagine Dragons.
The National Music Publishers Association is suing popular social video game Roblox for at least $200 million, claiming that they are using songs illegally from numerous artists.
The NMPA’s President David Israelite claims that Roblox is making “hundreds of millions of dollars by requiring users to pay every time they upload music onto the platform—taking advantage of young people’s lack of understanding about copyright—and then they take virtually no action to prevent repeat infringement or alert users to the risks they are taking.”
The NMPA has said artists such as Ariana Grande, Imagine Dragons, deadmau5 (who is individually claiming damages), Ed Sheehan, and The Rolling Stones have been financially affected. In addition to this publishers such as ANKCO Music & Recordings, Big Machine Records, and Concord Music Group are also to have been negatively impacted.
The NMPA suit is looking for damages “for Roblox’s unabashed exploitation of music without proper licenses,” stating that it “will ensure songwriters are fully paid for their works on the platform and that Roblox takes seriously its obligations to those who have made its service so popular and profitable.”