Elon Musk’s Twitter has been sued by the National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) for massive copyright infringement.
Posted Date – 12:21 PM, Thursday – 6/15/23
San Francisco: The National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) is suing Twitter for $250 million in massive copyright infringement.
The lawsuit, filed in Tennessee federal court on behalf of 17 music publishers, seeks damages and injunctive relief for Twitter’s “willful copyright infringement.”
“Twitter fuels its business through the infringing reproduction of countless musical works, infringing upon the exclusive rights enjoyed by publishers and others under copyright law,” the lawsuit reads.
“While many of Twitter’s competitors recognize that proper licensing and agreements are required to use musical compositions on its platform, Twitter does not, instead enabling massive copyright infringement that harms music creators,” it added.
The lawsuit, which lists about 1,700 songs that have been included in multiple copyright notices to Twitter, is asking the court to fine the microblogging platform up to $150,000 for each violation.
“The infringements involved in this case are widespread and not accidental,” the lawsuit said.
While the Twitter platform started as a destination for short text-based messages, it expanded its business model to more aggressively compete with other social media sites for users, advertisers and subscribers.
“By design, the Twitter platform is a popular destination for multimedia content, with music-infused videos being particularly important,” the suit adds.
The NMPA alleges that Twitter failed to remove the infringing content after being notified and “continues to assist known repeat infringers in their infringement” without risking them losing their accounts.
Neither the Weibo platform nor Musk responded to the lawsuit after being sued.
“Twitter profits hugely from infringing on publishers’ musical works. Audio and audiovisual recordings embodying these works attract and retain users (both account holders and visitors) and drive engagement, furthering Twitter’s lucrative advertising business and other sources of income,” the suit reads.
