Elon Musk is in serious trouble: Allegedly, he hasn't paid music royalties!

A coalition of influential global music publishers, including stalwarts like Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, and Sony Music Publishing, have jointly filed a lawsuit against Twitter. The social media giant stands accused of "extensive copyright infringement" concerning their music catalogues. The litigation, lodged in a Tennessee federal court, involves seventeen music publishers demanding more than $250 million in damages. This lawsuit underscores the escalating worries of music publishers seeking fair remuneration for the utilization of copyrighted music on social media channels.

According to David Israelite, the CEO of the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA), Twitter has refused to procure licenses for countless songs on its platform. Twitter, unlike its social media counterparts, has failed to implement measures to curb copyright infringement or to compensate songwriters and music publishers. Though Twitter is safeguarded by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which provides immunity to social media platforms from copyright disputes pertaining to user-generated content, it is criticized for its insufficient response to copyright breaches and recurrent infringements.

Elon Musk is in serious trouble: Allegedly, he hasn't paid music royalties!

The lawsuit further alleges that Twitter has intentionally allowed the distribution of leaked music, copyrighted music videos, and other copyrighted content. While Twitter asserts its commitment to eliminating infringing content, the music publishers contend that the company routinely overlooks repeat offenders and known infringement cases. Twitter’s alleged negligence in preventing distinct instances of infringement, despite its awareness of the situation, forms a significant facet of the publishers’ case against the company, currently owned by Elon Musk.

The publishers spearheading this legal action represent a broad spectrum of renowned artists, including Drake, Taylor Swift, and Adele. The alliance includes ABKCO Music, Anthem Entertainment, Big Machine Music, BMG Rights Management, Concord, Hipgnosis, Kobalt, Mayimba, Peer, Reservoir Media Management, Sony Music Publishing, Spirit Music Group, the Royalty Network, Ultra Music Publishing, Universal Music Group Publishing, Warner Chappell, and Wixen.

This lawsuit isn't Twitter's first encounter with the music industry's disapproval over copyright infringement. Even before Elon Musk’s acquisition of the platform in October 2022, Twitter had a history of contention with music publishers.

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