Twitter is reportedly being sued for over $250 million by a coalition of music publishers, including industry heavyweights Sony Music Publishing, Universal Music Corp., and Big Machine Music, over alleged copyright violations.
Fortune reports that a group of music publishers, including powerhouses Sony Music Publishing, Universal Music Corp., and Big Machine Music, are suing Twitter for more than $250 million over alleged copyright violations.
17 music publishers have charged Twitter with facilitating and profiting from copyright infringement by disregarding numerous copyright violation notices. According to the lawsuit, the social media site ignored notices of copyright violations for about 1,700 songs.
“Twitter has engaged in, knowingly facilitated, and profited from copyright infringement, at the expense of music creators, to whom Twitter pays nothing,” the plaintiffs stated in their claim. The coalition, represented by the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA), is seeking fines of up to $150,000 per violation.
The CEO of the NMPA, David Israelite, has been outspoken about Twitter’s position on music copyright. In a statement, he said, “Twitter stands alone as the largest social media platform that has completely refused to license the millions of songs on its service. Twitter knows full well that music is leaked, launched, and streamed by billions of people every day on its platform.”
The fact that Twitter does not have a music licensing agreement sets it apart from other significant social media platforms. Such agreements entail platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok paying yearly fees to host all audio content without fear of legal repercussions.
Twitter started negotiating a licensing agreement with Sony, Universal, and Warner in 2021. However, after Elon Musk bought Twitter in 2022, these negotiations came to a standstill. The lawsuit also names Musk, who has previously expressed his dislike of copyright laws.
“Current copyright law in general goes absurdly far beyond protecting the original creator,” Musk tweeted in May 2022. “Overzealous DMCA [Digital Millennium Copyright Act] is a plague on humanity.” This tweet has been quoted in the lawsuit filed by the music publishers.
The lawsuit was filed at a time when more copyrighted music and pirated content were being posted on Twitter. Even full-length movies have been uploaded to the platform by some users. The result of this lawsuit could have a big impact on Twitter and the social media industry as a whole.
Read more at Fortune here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan