Music Publishers Accuse Spotify of Copyright Infringement
The National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) today sent a cease and desist letter to Spotify, accusing the music streaming service of using its members' copyrighted content without appropriate licensing. The letter was shared by Billboard, and it suggests that Spotify is "hosting unlicensed musical works in its lyrics, videos, and podcasts."
Spotify has been asked to remove the unlicensed content from its platform or face a "copyright liability" for its continued use. The NMPA is a trade association that represents music publishers and songwriters in the U.S., and the group focuses on protecting music copyrights.
The NMPA claims that while Spotify has mechanical and public performance licenses, the use of lyrics and music in videos and podcasts requires rights that must be negotiated directly with rightsholders.
It has come to our attention that Spotify displays lyrics and reproduces and distributes music videos and podcasts using musical works without the consent of or compensation to the respective publishers and/or administrators (our members) who control the copyrights in the musical compositions. As such, these uses of musical works on the Spotify platform are not licensed or will soon become unlicensed.
U.S. copyright law generally grants copyright owners the exclusive right to, among other things, reproduce, distribute, display, perform publicly, and create derivative works from their copyrighted works under 17 U.S.C. Sn. 106. Violation of these exclusive rights constitutes copyright infringement under 17 U.S.C. Sn. 501.
Spotify thus appears to be engaged in direct infringement by hosting unlicensed musical works in its lyrics, videos, and podcasts, and by distributing unauthorized reproductions, synchronizations, displays, and derivative uses of these musical works to its users. Making matters worse, Spotify profits from such infringement.
Accordingly, on behalf of our members, NMPA demands that unlicensed lyrics, music videos, and podcasts be removed from the platform or Spotify will face copyright liability for continued use of these works.
A spokesperson for Spotify told Billboard that the letter is a "press stunt filled with false and misleading claims." Spotify went on to say that it paid a "record amount" to songwriters in 2023, and is on track to surpass that amount in 2024.
Popular Stories
Apple today released new firmware update for both the Lightning and USB-C versions of the AirPods Pro 2. The new firmware is version 6F7, up from the 6B34 firmware released in November. Apple does not provide details on what features might be included in the refreshed firmware beyond "bug fixes and other improvements," so it is unclear what's new in the update. Apple does not give...
It has been over a year and a half since the current Apple TV was released, so you may be wondering when a new model will be released. Below, we recap rumors about the next-generation Apple TV, including new features and lower pricing. The current Apple TV 4K was introduced in October 2022. Key new features compared to the previous model from 2021 include a faster A15 Bionic chip, a larger...
iOS 18 will be unveiled at Apple's annual developers conference WWDC in less than two weeks, and the update will include some new features for CarPlay. Below, we recap new accessibility features that Apple recently previewed for CarPlay, and discuss the current status of the promised next-generation CarPlay. The first beta of iOS 18 will likely be made available to members of the Apple...
iOS 18 is just around the corner, with Apple set to unveil the software update during its WWDC keynote next month. Below, we recap new features and changes rumored for iOS 18, which is projected to be the "biggest" update in the iPhone's history. iOS 18 is rumored to include new AI features for Siri and many apps, and Apple plans to add RCS support to the Messages app for an improved texting ...
Apple today shared details on the schedule that it has prepared for the 2024 Worldwide Developers Conference, which is set to take place from June 10 to June 14. While WWDC always includes a keynote, Apple has confirmed that it will be held on June 10 at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time. Apple is expected to announce iOS 18, iPadOS 18, macOS 15, tvOS 18, watchOS 11, and visionOS 2, and at this time,...
Apple is planning a major AI overhaul for Siri in iOS 18, and Bloomberg's Mark Gurman says that the update will let Siri control all individual features in apps for the first time, expanding the range of functions the personal assistant can perform. Siri will be able to do things like open specific documents, move a note from one folder to another, delete an email, summarize an article,...