Music Publishers hit Twitter with $250M Copyright Infringement Lawsuit

The National Music Publishers Association representing 17 major and independent music publishers, has filed a major federal copyright infringement lawsuit against Twitter for failure to license and pay for music posted on the platform.

The lawsuit seeks $250 million in damages for hundreds of thousands of infringements on 1,700 songs and names Elon Musk’s X Corp, the company that owns and operates Twitter, as the only defendant.

“While numerous Twitter competitors recognize the need for proper licenses and agreements for the use of musical compositions on their platforms, Twitter does not, and instead breeds massive copyright infringement that harms music creators,’ according to the lawsuit.

Unlike most social platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, Twitter does not have licensing deals with major music companies.

Joining the lawsuit are Concord, Universal Music Publishing Group, peermusic, ABKCO Music, Anthem Entertainment, Big Machine Music, BMG Rights Management, Hipgnosis Songs Group, Kobalt Music Publishing America, Mayimba Music, Reservoir Media Management, Sony Music Publishing, Spirit Music Group, The Royalty Network, Ultra Music Publishing, Warner Chappell Music, and Wixen Music Publishing.

“Twitter stands alone as the largest social media platform that has completely refused to license the millions of songs on its service,” commented David Israelite, CEO of the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA). “Twitter knows full well that music is leaked, launched, and streamed by billions of people every day on its platform. No longer can it hide behind the DMCA and refuse to pay songwriters and music publishers.”

Bruce Houghton is the Founder and Editor of Hypebot, a Senior Advisor at Bandsintown, President of the Skyline Artists Agency, and a Berklee College Of Music professor.