Music publishers Sony Music, UMG and more suing Twitter for copyright infringement
A number of music bodies are suing Twitter for $250 million over alleged copyright infringement.
MusicTech reports that a coalition of 17 music industry bodies with plaintiffs including huge music publishers such as Sony Music Publishing, Universal Music Group, Warner Chappell, BMG and more have filed a lawsuit.
The collective of music bodies is looking to claim $250 million in compensation from Twitter, after ‘hundreds of thousands’ of unauthorised streams of over 1,700 pieces of music. MusicTech notes that Twitter has not negotiated music licensing agreements with music copyright holders, whereas other social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok have.
While Elon Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion last year, the lawsuit claims that copyright infringement was a problem before the sale occurred and it hasn’t improved since Musk’s ownership.
The court document, via Music Business Worldwide, states that Twitter is “rife with copyright infringement” and also claims that, “Twitter knows perfectly well that neither it nor users of the Twitter platform have secured licences for the rampant use of music being made on its platform as complained of herein”.
The document continues, “Nonetheless, in connection with its highly interactive platform, Twitter consistently and knowingly hosts and streams infringing copies of musical compositions, including ones uploaded by or streamed to Tennessee residents and including specific infringing material that Twitter knows is infringing.
“Twitter also routinely continues to provide specific known repeat infringers with use of the Twitter platform, which they use for more infringement.”
MusicTech further reports that David Israelite, CEO of the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA), which represents the interests of major and independent publishers in the US, shared in a statement on Wednesday (June 14th): “Twitter stands alone as the largest social media platform that has completely refused to licence the millions of songs on its service.
He added: “Twitter knows full well that music is leaked, launched, and streamed by billions of people every day on its platform. No longer can it hide behind the DMCA and refuse to pay songwriters and music publishers.”