By Michaela Gordoni
A group of music publishers that started a lawsuit against X two years ago are in the midst of settlement negotiations.
The parties “have determined to engage in good-faith efforts to fully and amicably resolve this lawsuit,” they said in a joint motion last week, according to Variety.
The court approved and ordered the motion on June 11. The case is paused for 90 days while the parties try to reach an agreement.
“The intent of the stay is to discuss with X the resolution of the suit and proper compensation to songwriters and publishers for past unlicensed uses, while providing an opportunity for go forward licensing,” a spokesperson for the National Music Publishers Association said in a statement.
Some companies involved are Sony Music Publishing, Warner Chappell Music, Downtown Music, Hipgnosis Songs Group, Kobalt, peermusic, Resevoir Media, Universal Music Publishing Group and others, Music Business Worldwide reported.
“If the Parties’ discussions are not successful,” the joint motion said, “the Parties will promptly notify the Court. If discussions remain productive, but a resolution has not been reached within 90 days, the Parties may jointly request a further extension.”
Related: Music Publishers Crack Down on Unlicensed Music Use in Spotify Podcasts
Magistrate Judge Barbara D. Holmes dismissed two of the three claims that the music groups made against X last year. The only claim remaining is one concerning contributory infringement.
“Twitter [now X] stands alone as the largest social media platform that has completely refused to license the millions of songs on its service,” NMPA president and CEO David Israelite said near the start of the lawsuit. “Twitter knows full well that music is leaked, launched, and streamed by billions of people every day on its platform.”
X was accused of infringing over 1,500 songs hundreds of thousands of times. The companies originally asked for over $225 million in damages.
“Twitter fuels its business with countless infringing copies of musical compositions, violating Publishers’ and others’ exclusive rights under copyright law,” the publishers’ complaint said. “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.”
“We have a unique problem that plagues the songwriting industry,” Israelite said last week. “Songwriters don’t stick together.”
If the parties come to a resolution, they will file a motion to dismiss the case with the court. They can also jointly file for an extension if they need more time than the 90 days.
Questions or comments? Please write to us here.
- Content: +1Share:
- Content: +2