New York Times reported first that a big part of the music industry is now suing Elon Musk-led Twitter social media platform for $250 million.
The key argument the music industry presents is that, unlike other social networks, Twitter has not struck an agreement to license the music posted on its platform. The suit cites 1,700 infringing songs and requests $150,000 per tune, hence the $250 million price tag.
According to the suit, since December 2021, the companies sent out about 300,000 DCMA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) notifications of infractions.
One offending tweet cited by the suit includes two minutes of Rihanna’s “Umbrella” and has 221,000 views and 15,000 likes. The lawsuit also quotes a tweet in which Musk writes, “Overzealous DMCA is a plague on humanity.”
Twitter had been in talks with the three major labels to negotiate licensing rights before Musk bought the company and put the talks on hold.
