Music publishers sue Twitter for allowing copyrighted songs
The Hindu
A group of 17 music publishers sued Twitter, accusing the company of enabling thousands of copyright violations.
A group of 17 music publishers sued Twitter in Nashville, Tennessee, federal court on Wednesday, accusing the company of enabling thousands of copyright violations by allowing users to post music without a license. Twitter drives user engagement with "countless infringing copies of musical compositions," the lawsuit said.
Members of the National Music Publishers' Association, including Sony Music Publishing, BMG Rights Management and Universal Music Publishing Group, are seeking more than $250 million in damages for alleged infringement of nearly 1,700 copyrights. The lawsuit said the longstanding infringement has gotten worse since Elon Musk bought Twitter in October, and that other major platforms like TikTok, Facebook and YouTube properly license music from the publishers.
Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment. NMPA President David Israelite said in a statement that Twitter "stands alone as the largest social media platform that has completely refused to license the millions of songs on its service." Twitter "routinely ignores" repeat infringement by users who post tweets that contain unlicensed music, the lawsuit said. The publishers said Twitter encourages user infringement, which increases engagement and ad revenues while giving it an "unfair advantage" over platforms that pay for music licenses.
(For top technology news of the day, subscribe to our tech newsletter Today’s Cache)
"Twitter's internal affairs regarding matters pertinent to this case are in disarray," the publishers said, noting deep cuts to the company's legal and trust-and-safety teams since Musk took control.
“We are judges and therefore, cannot act like Mughals of a bygone era ... the writ courts in the guise of doing justice cannot transcend the barriers of law,” the High Court of Karnataka observed while setting aside an order of a single judge, who in 2016 had extended the lease of a public premises allotted to a physically challenged person to 20 years contrary to 12-year period stipulated in the law.
The High Court of Karnataka on Monday declined to interfere, at present, in the investigation against a Bharatiya Janata Party worker, who is among the accused persons facing charges of circulating obscene clips, related to “morphed” images and videos clips related to Prajwal Revanna, former Hassan MP, in public domain through pen drives and other modes.
The 16th edition of Bhoomi Habba was held on June 8, at the Visthar campus. The festival drew a vibrant crowd who came together to celebrate eco-consciousness through a variety of engaging activities, creative workshops, panel discussions, interactive exhibits and performances, all centered around this year’s theme: “Save Water, Save Lives.”