Twitter is being sued by music publishers over allegations of widespread copyright infringement as reported by Billboard. The National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) claims that Twitter has unlawfully used over 1,700 songs, including those by artists like Taylor Swift and Beyoncé. The lawsuit seeks significant damages, potentially amounting to $255 million.
The NMPA argues that Twitter’s actions have caused significant harm to publishers, songwriters, and the broader music ecosystem.
Twitter has not yet provided a comment in response to the impending lawsuit.
Music publishers involved, include Concord, UMPG, Sony Music Publishing, Warner Chappell Music, and BMG Rights Management, are named as plaintiffs in the lawsuit. The stated in their complaint, “Twitter profits handsomely from its infringement of publishers’ repertoires of musical compositions. ” adding that, “Twitter’s unlawful conduct has caused and continues to cause substantial and irreparable harm to Publishers, their songwriter clients, and the entire music ecosystem.”
The NMPA’s president and CEO, David Israelite, has made Twitter a top legal priority, emphasizing the company’s reliance on the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) as a defense against copyright infringement claims.
The DMCA provides websites like Twitter with a “safe harbor” protection against copyright infringement lawsuits, as long as they promptly remove infringing content and take action against repeat offenders.
The NMPA has a track record of pursuing legal action to protect music copyrights. In recent years, they have initiated lawsuits against various platforms and apps, including Roblox and Vinkle, for hosting unlicensed songs. The NMPA’s public grievances with Twitter date back to at least April 2021 when they called for the platform to license music properly. The publishers argue that Twitter’s handling of copyright issues has worsened since its ownership changed in October 2022.
