A group of music publishers representing songwriters from Taylor Swift to Beyoncé is suing Twitter for alleged copyright infringement, arguing that the platform benefits from the use of songs it hasn’t paid for.
Twitter users regularly post videos that include popular music, and artists want to be paid when their work is used that way. The Elon Musk-owned company is one of the only social-media platforms that hasn’t forged licensing arrangements governing the use of music on its service.
The suit, brought by the National Music Publishers’ Association on behalf of 17 music publishers, is the opening salvo in what could be a protracted legal battle between music’s biggest rights holders and the social-media platform. NMPA says it is seeking more than $250 million in damages for hundreds of thousands of alleged infringements that the organization has identified, spanning 1,700 songs.
Read the full story on The Wall Street Journal here.