Lawsuit alleges Spotify “unlawfully” distributes copyrighted music

While music lovers were celebrating the arrival of the entire Beatles discography on Spotify (and other music streaming services), some artists were busy preparing a class action lawsuit against the service. According to the suit, the company has “knowingly, willingly, and unlawfully” distributed copyrighted music without obtaining the licenses and compensating the respective individuals and companies who own the copyright to these music. The suit is headed by David Lowery, frontman for the band Cracker and a professor at the University of Georgia.

It is stated in the complaint that Spotify has actually publicly admitted that they have been unable to obtain licenses for certain songs that are available for streaming on their service. In fact, they have allegedly created a reserve fund containing millions of dollars (around $17 to $25 million supposedly) as royalty payments and the plaintiffs say this money is “wrongfully withheld from artists.” They are seeking at least $150 million in damages for several songs, including “Almond Grove” (copyright registration No. PAu003764032); “Get On Down the Road” (No. PAu003745342); “King of Bakersfield” (No. PAu003745341); and “Tonight I Cross the Border” (No. PAu003745338).

Spotify is actually currently in negotiations with the National Music Publishers Assn. over allegations that they are not making mechanical royal payments to music publishers and songwriters. Spotify global head of communications and public policy Jonathan Prince has said that they are “committed to paying songwriters and publishers every penny,” but they are working with incomplete data with regards to determining the proper rightsholders. They set aside the royalty intended for the person/company until they have determined who actually needs to be compensated. He says they are also “investing in the resources and technical expertise to build a comprehensive publishing administration system to solve this problem for good.”

Of course this isn’t the first time that Spotify has come under fire for this kind of allegations. Taylor Swift has infamously refused to put her music up on the streaming site because she says their profit sharing is unfair for the musicians and everyone who works on the records. Let’s see if this latest class action lawsuit will find favor in the eyes of the court.

VIA: Billboard