Twitter is being taken to court by the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) which includes a total of 17 music publishers representing the biggest global artists. The lawsuit claims that the micro-blogging social network is monetizing its platform by ‘infringing copies of musical compositions,’ and in doing so, it is violating several rights that come under copyright law.
Music publishers are asking the court to fine Twitter up to $150,000 for each violation
The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Tennessee, and according to The Verge, there is a list of 1,700 songs that the music publishers say have been included in multiple copyright notices to Twitter, but for some reason, the company refuses to take any action. The company was earlier reported to be in talks with music labels to form a licensing deal, but those plans came to a halt after Elon Musk acquired Twitter for $44 billion.
With the latest lawsuit, the 17 music publishers have asked the court to fine Twitter up to $150,000 per violation. Most of the copyrighted material found on Twitter revolves around music videos, live performances, or other clips that have been synchronized to copyrighted music. The NMPA states that Twitter is benefitting from the lack of action being taken because the more copyright content is on the platform, the more time users will spend on it, increasing the social network’s value.
The music publishers also claim that Twitter was protecting offenders by letting them continue with their infringing habits and did not even send them a warning that their accounts were at risk of being disabled as a result of repeated copyright violations. Twitter’s social media competitors, such as TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, and others, have all cut licensing deals with music publishers and labels, which is a huge reason why they were not included in the lawsuit.
Only recently, Twitter Blue users gained the ability to upload videos up to a duration of two hours and an 8GB capacity limit. Unsurprisingly, this change was also mentioned in the latest lawsuit, as it involves millions of users uploading intellectual content without any penalization. Twitter has yet to comment on the latest development, so we will update our readers when there is a response from the company. For now, if you want to check the details of the lawsuit, there are available in black and white.
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