Major global music publishers, including Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, and Sony Music Publishing, have jointly sued Twitter for alleged “massive copyright infringement.” The lawsuit, filed in a Tennessee federal court, involves seventeen music publishers seeking damages exceeding $250 million. This legal action underscores music publishers’ increasing concerns for fair compensation regarding the use of copyrighted music on social media platforms.
David Israelite, CEO of the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA), criticized Twitter for not obtaining licenses for the millions of songs on its platform. Unlike other social media platforms, Twitter has been accused of neglecting to prevent copyright infringement or compensate songwriters and music publishers. Despite the protection offered by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), Twitter is alleged to have inadequately addressed copyright violations and repeated infringements.
The lawsuit alleges that Twitter knowingly allowed leaked music, copyrighted music videos, and other copyrighted material to circulate on its platform. The music publishers argue that Twitter frequently ignores repeat infringers and known instances of infringement, despite claiming to remove infringing content. Seventeen music publishers, representing popular artists such as Drake, Taylor Swift, and Adele, have united to hold Twitter accountable for copyright infringement. The coalition 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.
Twitter has faced previous criticism from the music industry regarding copyright infringement even prior to Elon Musk’s acquisition of the platform in October 2022. Music publishers have had longstanding concerns with Twitter’s handling of copyrighted content.
