Twitter Faces Lawsuit From Music Publishers Over Copyright Violations

The lawsuit argues that Twitter consistently disregards repeat infringements committed by users who post tweets containing unlicensed music.

A federal court in Nashville, Tennessee, was the setting for a lawsuit filed against Twitter by a coalition of 17 music publishers. The publishers accuse the social media giant of enabling the posting of copyrighted music without proper licensing, resulting in numerous copyright violations. According to the lawsuit, Twitter is responsible for driving user engagement through the promotion of "countless infringing copies of musical compositions."

The plaintiffs, including notable members of the National Music Publishers' Association such as Sony Music Publishing, BMG Rights Management, and Universal Music Publishing Group, are seeking damages exceeding $250 million for the alleged infringement of approximately 1,700 copyrights.

The legal action emphasises that the infringement issues have intensified since Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter in October. Additionally, the publishers note that major platforms like TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube appropriately license music from the publishers, highlighting Twitter's deviation from this standard.

Twitter has yet to provide a comment in response to the allegations made in the lawsuit, reported Reuters.

President of the National Music Publishers' Association, David Israelite, stated in a released statement that Twitter "stands alone as the largest social media platform that has completely refused to license the millions of songs on its service."

The lawsuit argues that Twitter consistently disregards repeat infringements committed by users who post tweets containing unlicensed music. Furthermore, the publishers assert that Twitter actively encourages user infringement, benefiting from increased engagement and advertising revenues. This practice gives Twitter an "unfair advantage" over platforms that honour proper music licensing agreements.

The publishers also point out the disruption within Twitter's internal operations, citing significant reductions in the company's legal and trust-and-safety teams since Musk assumed control. These developments further complicate matters pertinent to the case.

Meanwhile, Twitter is getting evicted from its Colorado office over unpaid rent for three months. It owes the rent to its Boulder landlord, the media has reported. A judge has signed off on evicting the micro-blogging giant from its office there, court documents show. The judge deemed that Twitter must vacate by the end of July.