Spotify Admits To Streaming 300,000 Songs Illegally
At a hearing to judge the merits of a proposed $43.4 million settlement of a class-action lawsuit that would compensate publishers and songwriters for infringement, attorneys representing the interests of Tom Petty, Neil Young, Andy Paley and other songwriters questioned the size of the offer given the number of infringed songs.
__________________________________
300,000 SONGS
A lawyer for Spotify offered a "ballpark" estimate that 300,000 songs had been streamed without mechanical licences during a hearing Friday to judge the merits of a $43.4 million class action settlement brought by songwriters and music publishers.
If the settlement is approved in its current form, Spotify would pay an approximate 'fine' of $100 per infringed song, after legal fees are deducted. It also seems likely that many of the 300,000 tracks were streamed multiple times each. Normally, statutory damages range from $750 to $150,000 per copyright infringement.
H/T: Billboard
You are misquoting the Billboard piece — which declared this “infringement” — and substituting a word that clearly does not apply: “illegal.”
Infringement and Illegal are two different concepts. Infringing a copyright is only sometimes a violation of the law, and it is not alleged here that it is illegal, only that it is infringing.