Twitter is facing legal action from a group of 17 well-known music publishers in a federal court in Nashville, Tennessee. The social media giant is charged with encouraging extensive copyright offences by allowing users to upload music without the required licences, according to the lawsuit, which was filed on Wednesday.
According to the plaintiffs, Twitter actively facilitates the dissemination of "countless infringing copies of musical compositions," resulting in severe copyright infringement. The National Music Publishers' Association (NMPA), comprising industry heavyweights such as Sony Music Publishing, BMG Rights Management, and Universal Music Publishing Group, is seeking damages exceeding $250 million for the alleged infringement of nearly 1,700 copyrights.
The complaint asserts that since Twitter was acquired by Elon Musk in October, the issue of copyright infringement there has gotten worse. In contrast, it appears that when it comes to music released by these music publishers, other significant platforms like TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube follow the correct licensing procedures.
Twitter hasn't officially addressed the complaint or made an official statement about it.
In a statement, NMPA President David Israelite emphasised his concern, highlighting Twitter as the "largest social media platform that has completely refused to licence the millions of songs on its service." He slammed Twitter for consistently failing to take action against individuals who repeatedly violate the terms of service by tweeting lyrics to songs that are not authorised. The claim made by the music publishers is that Twitter actively promotes user infringement, using it to raise user engagement, boost advertising revenue, and gain an unfair competitive advantage over other platforms that pay for music licences.
Twitter's legal and trust and safety teams have seen significant reductions since Musk's engagement started, according to the plaintiffs, who contend that Twitter's handling of subjects pertinent to this lawsuit is in chaos. These cuts highlight Twitter's alleged negligence to copyright violations on its own platform
