Spotify is currently still working out the last legs of its ongoing class action lawsuit, but now they’re set to juggle another from Wixen Music Publishing.
The suit alleges that the streaming giant failed to get the proper mechanical licences to “to reproduce and/or distribute musical compositions on its service.” The publisher further alleges that “as much as 21 percent of the 30 million songs on Spotify” are missing proper licenses, and for that, they are seeking $1.6 billion in damages – or approximately $150,000 per composition. In addition, Wixen Music Publishing is also seeking attorneys’ fees and costs and injunctive relief.
“The Settlement Agreement is procedurally and substantively unfair to Settlement Class Members because it prevents meaningful participation by rights holders and offers them an unfair dollar amount in light of Spotify’s ongoing, willful copyright infringement of their works,” reads a statement from Wixen. “Spotify brazenly disregards United States copyright law and has committed willful, ongoing copyright infringement… Wixen notified Spotify that it had neither obtained a direct or compulsory mechanical license for the use of the works. For these reasons and the foregoing, Wixen is entitled to the maximum statutory relief.”
You can read through Wixen’s entire claim below.
Wixen Music Publishing currently represent the catalogs of Journey, Missy Elliott, Rage Against The Machine, Weezer, and over 2000 more artists.
H/T: Gizmodo
