Twitter Faces Legal Battle Over Copyright Infringement

The National Music Publishers’ Association has filed a lawsuit against Twitter, alleging that the platform has been using copyrighted music without permission.

NMPA President David Israelite said in a statement Wednesday (June 14) that Twitter “stands alone as the largest social media platform that has completely refused to license the millions of songs on its service,” according to Reuters.

Twitter has yet to respond to the lawsuit, which was filed in U.S. District Court in Nashville.

This is not the first time that a social media platform has been accused of such a violation. YouTube, Facebook, Snap, and TikTok all have agreements in place that collectively pay the music industry billions of dollars a year for licenses to use their work, according to a Bloomberg report.

Related: EU’s Breton Says Twitter Cannot Hide From EU Regulation

“The National Music Publishers’ Association’s lawsuit against Twitter is a clear indication that the music industry is not willing to let Twitter get away with this,” said another representative of the association, per Bloomberg. The association is seeking damages and an injunction to prevent Twitter from using copyrighted music on its platform without permission.

“We hope that Twitter will recognize the value of music and work with us to find a solution that benefits everyone,” said a spokesperson for the association, per Bloomberg.

“Songwriters and music publishers deserve to be paid for their creative efforts, and social media platforms like Twitter should not be allowed to use their work without permission,” said a representative of the music industry.