Music Publishers Sue Twitter for $250 Million Over Alleged Copyright Infringement

The Twitter logo on the exterior of Twitter headquarters in San Francisco, Calif., on Oct. 28, 2022. (Constanza Hevia/AFP via Getty Images)

Twitter has been sued by the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) for alleged copyright violations involving nearly 1,700 songs.

The lawsuit (pdf) was filed in federal court in the Federal District Court in Nashville, Tennessee, on June 14 by NMPA on behalf of 17 major and independent music publishing companies including Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony Music Publishing, BMG Rights Management, and more.

Elon Musk’s X Corp and Twitter are listed as defendants.

Plaintiffs are seeking more than $250 million in damages and injunctive relief for what they say is Twitter’s “willful copyright infringement.”

“Twitter fuels its business with countless infringing copies of musical ‘compositions, violating Publishers’ and others’ exclusive rights under copyright law. While numerous Twitter competitors recognize the need for proper licenses and agreements for the use ‘of musical compositions on their platforms, Twitter does not, and instead breeds massive copyright infringement that harms music creators,” the plaintiffs wrote.

The plaintiffs went on to state that the social media platform, which was purchased by billionaire Elon Musk last year for $44 billion, is “rife with copyright infringement,” noting that this had also been the case prior to Musk’s takeover.

“Twitter has engaged in, knowingly facilitated, and profited from copyright infringement, at the expense of music creators, to whom Twitter pays nothing,” they wrote, adding that there is a “vibrant existing market for social media companies to pay fees for the use of musical compositions.”

Plaintiffs further claimed that a string of other social media companies, including TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Snapchat have entered into agreements with publishers and other rights holders to compensate creators for their musical work.

Twitter ‘Profits Handsomely’ From Infringements

“Twitter knows perfectly well that neither it nor users of the Twitter platform have secured licenses for the rampant use of music being made on its platform,” they wrote, adding that the social media platform “profits handsomely from its infringement of Publishers’ repertoires of musical compositions.”

The lawsuit comes after the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) said in February last year that Twitter remains a “significant concern to the music industry.”

“Twitter stores and gives the public access to a large amount of copyright-protected content and is a major platform for distributing infringing music content, both audio, and video,” the  IFPI [477 articles]“ href=”https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/companies/ifpi/">IFPI said in an EU Counterfeit and Piracy Watchlist submission at the time.

“Due to the social nature of Twitter, its volume of users and ease of access, the platform can be, and is used to share and distribute infringing material rapidly and on a massive scale, and the ability to re-tweet serves to amplify the damage that is caused by such infringements,” the organization, which represents the interests of the recording industry, wrote.

Along with depriving publishers and songwriters of their “hard-earned, deserved income,” the June 14 lawsuit claims that Twitter’s conduct also gives it an “unfair advantage” over competitors who pay for music licenses.

Twitter Can ‘No Longer Hide’

The plaintiffs also claim that the situation with Twitter has not improved under new leadership and that instead, “Twitter’s internal affairs regarding matters pertinent to this case are in disarray.”

“Despite the general rise in infringement notices Twitter received over the last several years, Twitter chose to significantly reduce several of its critical departments involved with content review and policing terms of service violations, including both the legal and the trust and safety teams,” they wrote. “Public reports indicate that Twitter has fewer than 2,000 remaining employees out of the over 7,500 employees that Twitter had at the time of the change of control in October 2022.”

Musk has initiated mass layoffs since taking over Twitter last year, a move he has repeatedly defended, stating that the platform was losing over $4 million a day.

Earlier this month, the businessman, who previously admitted to having a grueling work schedule as the new owner of Twitter, stepped down as CEO of the platform.

Linda Yaccarino, the former head of advertising at NBCUniversal, was named as his replacement.

In a statement to NME, David Israelite, President of the NMPA, 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. No longer can it hide behind the DMCA and refuse to pay songwriters and music publishers,” he added.

Twitter responded to The Epoch Times’ request for comment with an emoji.