X Sues Music Giants Over Alleged Licensing Collusion

Elon Musk-owned social media platform X has filed a lawsuit against 18 major music publishers and an industry trade body in the United States, alleging collusion over music licensing practices. The report was first published by Reuters.

The lawsuit was filed by X Corp in a federal court in Texas, accusing the publishers of deliberately undermining competition by refusing to negotiate individual licensing agreements and instead pressuring X to accept licenses at inflated rates.

The defendants named in the case include the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA), Sony Music, Universal Music, and Warner Chappell, among other leading publishers.

According to X, the accused entities collectively represent more than 90 percent of copyrighted music in the United States and have coordinated their actions to avoid licensing talks, which the company claims constitutes a violation of competition laws.

X further alleges that the publishers are frequently issuing copyright takedown notices, forcing the removal of thousands of posts. This, the company says, has negatively impacted user engagement as well as advertising revenue.

Responding to the lawsuit, NMPA President David Israelite said X has long been using copyrighted music without authorization and described the lawsuit as an attempt to evade responsibility.

X has asked the court to award damages and restore what it describes as a fair and competitive licensing environment.

DBTech/BMT/OR