Spotify sued for playing songs without permission
Popular music streaming service Spotify has been hit with a lawsuit worth $1.6 billion. The company has apparently been playing thousands of songs from artists like Tom Petty, Neil Young, and The Doors without taking the proper permission for it.
According to a report published by CNET, Wixen Music Publishing is the original song licensee of these artists. After realizing that their products were being used by Spotify without their consent or permission, they decided to sue Spotify last week in the Californian Federal Court. They have accused the music-streaming start-up of using the products without obtaining an appropriate license or paying any form of compensation for the same.
The lawsuit filed by Wixen Music Publishing seeks roughly $1.6 billion in damages. “Prior to launch, Spotify struck deals with major record labels to obtain the necessary rights to the sound recording copyrights in the songs by offering the major labels, in many cases, an equity stake in Spotify. But Spotify failed to properly obtain the equivalent rights for the compositions. As a result, Spotify has built a billion-dollar business on the backs of songwriters and publishers whose music Spotify is using, in many cases without obtaining and paying for the necessary licenses,” the music publishing company said in a statement.
Unfortunately for Spotify, another huge lawsuit arrived right after the Sweden-based music-streaming service agreed to pay over $43 million to settle a proposed class-action lawsuit filed by several songwriters.
They accused Spotify of the same thing, i.e. using their products without obtaining an appropriate license of paying them for their music. The music streaming service consists of over 60 million paying users at the moment. The firm’s valuation at the moment is around $20 billion. Spotify still hasn’t provided a comment on this matter as yet. It remains to be seen what exactly Spotify does next. Until then, enjoy the music folks!
