Social media giant, Twitter is being sued by the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) for allowing users to post music on the platform without a license. According to the lawsuit, it is claimed Twitter drives user engagement with “countless infringing copies of musical compositions.
Twitter stands out among major social media platforms as it currently does not compensate music rights holders for licensing their work. In contrast, platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, Snap, and TikTok have established agreements that result in significant annual payments, amounting to billions of dollars, to the music industry.
The NMPA is the leading advocate for songwriters in the U.S., which counts many of the largest music companies among its members and it is seeking a court declaration that Twitter deliberately infringed the musical work for approximately 1,700 songs. The organization filed the complaint in federal court in Nashville on behalf of 17 music publishers, including Sony Music, BMG Rights Management and Universal Music Publishing Group and is asking for more than $250 million in damages.
“Twitter stands alone as the largest social media platform that has completely refused to license the millions of songs on its service,” NMPA president David Israelite said in a statement regarding the suit. “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.”
For a long time, music companies have expressed dissatisfaction with social media platforms profiting from their creative works. Music, being the most popular genre on platforms like YouTube and a driving force behind TikTok’s success, has played a significant role.
After prolonged battles over fair use, music rights holders have resolved disputes with several major technology companies. YouTube, owned by Alphabet Inc., disclosed that it had paid $6 billion to the music industry in the preceding 12 months, while Meta Platforms Inc., the parent company of Facebook, paid hundreds of millions of dollars annually for music rights enabling users to incorporate music into their videos.
Before Elon Musk acquired Twitter, the platform had been in discussions with music companies regarding licensing agreements, as reported by the New York Times in March. However, since Musk took control of the company, he has been occupied with other matters. He has made substantial staff changes, appointed a new CEO, and aimed to reassure advertisers who had halted their spending on the platform.
Twitter has not responded to this officially.
