Music companies sue Twitter for alleged copyright violations
BNN Bloomberg
The National Music Publishers’ Association sued Twitter Inc. Wednesday, alleging it violates the copyright of songwriters by using their music on its platform without permission.
Twitter is one of the only major social media platforms that doesn’t pay music rights to holders for licenses to their work. YouTube, Facebook, Snap and TikTok all have agreements that collectively pay the music industry billions of dollars a year.
The NMPA — the leading advocate for songwriters in the U.S., which counts many of the largest music companies among its members — is seeking a court declaration that Twitter willfully infringed the musical work for approximately 1,700 songs. The organization filed the complaint in federal court in Nashville on behalf of 17 music publishers, including Sony Music and Universal Music Publishing Group.
The companies are seeking up to US$150,000 for every piece of work infringed, among other damages. Twitter didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
