Twitter could face more than $250 million in damages after the National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) filed a federal copyright lawsuit alleging that the social media platform “profitably profited from its infringement of publishers’ repertoires.”
according to type, a lawsuit filed on behalf of 17 major music publishers, says Twitter “fuels its business with infringing copies of countless musical works” and “fosters massive copyright infringement that harms music creators.” The NMPA went even further, stating that the company “knowingly” hosts unlicensed material and “routinely continues to provide access to the Twitter platform to specific known repeat infringers.”
“Twitter is well aware that neither it nor the users of the Twitter platform are licensed for the insane use of music on its platform that is being complained about here,” the lawsuit reads. “Twitter’s illegal actions have caused and will continue to cause significant and irreparable harm to publishers, their songwriter clients, and the entire music ecosystem.”
The suit also states that “many of Twitter’s competitors acknowledge that appropriate licenses and agreements are required,” however, the social media company “refuses to require it to obtain licenses or other agreements required to legally use musical compositions on its platform,” NMPA claims The award of more than $250 million was based on hundreds of thousands of infringement notices for approximately 1,700 materials.
Twitter has already spoken out against copyright infringement issues in 2023, beginning in January when Dr. Dre sent a cease and desist letter to Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, resulting in her account being locked . In May, the platform essentially facilitated movie piracy after a new Twitter Blue feature allowed users to upload two-hour videos.
Meanwhile, Twitter’s billionaire executive chairman Elon Musk has been less of a favorite with the music industry since his tumultuous takeover in 2022, with Trent Reznor, Jack White and Elton Criticism by John et al., and typical rude responses to at least one occasion.