Elon Musk’s Twitter is facing a $250 million lawsuit from music publishers for numerous copyright infringements. The lawsuit, filed by 17 music publishers including Sony and Universal Music, accuses Twitter of “fueling its business with countless infringing copies of musical compositions.” The dispute between the music industry and Twitter predates Musk’s $44 billion takeover, but the publishers claim that the social media company has been in “disarray” since the deal was finalized.
The lawsuit specifically targets Musk’s X Corp, the owner of Twitter. Unlike its competitors like Facebook and TikTok, Twitter has not signed any rights agreements with the music industry. Although Twitter initiated talks with three major labels in 2021, negotiations quickly stalled.
Meanwhile, Facebook has entered into a series of agreements with music groups since 2018, granting its users the rights to upload music videos and songs. Other platforms like YouTube, Snap, and TikTok also have licensing agreements with publishers.
In the legal filings, the publishers claim that approximately 1,700 musical infringements have been identified, including songs by Rihanna and Billie Eilish. They are seeking $150,000 for each infringed work.
The National Music Publishers Association (NMPA), which initiated the lawsuit, alleges that pirated music is a profitable aspect for Twitter, as the site promotes advertisements alongside uploaded music videos.
The claim further contends that infringements on Twitter have worsened since Musk’s takeover, as he has terminated thousands of Twitter staff. The music groups state, “Twitter’s internal affairs regarding matters pertinent to this case are in disarray,” in the court filings.
The lawsuit also references Musk’s previous tweets where he argued against the extent of copyright law. However, since assuming control of Twitter, Musk has mentioned that he would comply with “reasonable media takedown requests.”
David Israelite, CEO of the NMPA, criticized Twitter, stating, “Twitter stands alone as the largest social media platform that has completely refused to license 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.”
Twitter has not responded to a request for comment regarding the lawsuit.
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