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Spotify’s unpaid royalties have caught up to them in $150 million lawsuit
Spotify‘s music streaming business has been the subject of intense scrutiny over the last few months and it appears one part of that scrutiny is coming to a head. A class action lawsuit submitted by Camper Van Beethoven and Cracker’s David Lowery is seeking $150 million from Spotify for damages from “knowingly, willingly, and unlawfully reproducing and distributing copyrighted compositions without obtaining mechanical licenses”. The lawsuit stems from Spotify’s policy of only providing royalties when it can identify who the royalties should go to – otherwise, the money goes into a “royalty bank” for when the copyright owner can be identified. In Spotify’s own words:
“We are committed to paying songwriters and publishers every penny. Unfortunately, especially in the United States, the data necessary to confirm the appropriate rightsholders is often missing, wrong, or incomplete. When rightsholders are not immediately clear, we set aside the royalties we owe until we are able to confirm their identities. We are working closely with the National Music Publishers Association to find the best way to correctly pay the royalties we have set aside and we are investing in the resources and technical expertise to build a comprehensive publishing administration system to solve this problem for good.”
Lowery is seeking up to $150,000 for each infringed song, so you can see how quickly this all adds up if Spotify is found guilty of intentionally withholding royalties. It does beg the question of whether more music streaming services are also guilty of similar charges, and if so, the outcome of this lawsuit could have far-reaching consequences for the industry.
What do you think about Spotify’s predicament? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Source: Billboard via TalkAndroid
The post Spotify’s unpaid royalties have caught up to them in $150 million lawsuit appeared first on AndroidSPIN.
Source: http://androidspin.com/2015/12/29/spotifys-unpaid-royalties-have-caught-up-to-them-in-150-million-lawsuit/
waaaa i wrote a song 30 yrs ago or my relative wrote a song 80 yrs ago and I want to be paid !
Songs have Writers and Composers, the problems begin with Artists and Record Labels and their contracts, we just have to be clear it is the Artists and Record Labels who are the plaintiffs, these are Performers and Rights holders who make a living off what is other peoples work, i.e the 3rd generation of band members after the original Artist composers have retired/moved on, Mix artists, Cover Artists and the ubiquitous retailers of sold on rights often making a living nowadays by threatening court action as a form of blackmail.
I.e The wonderful Wizard of OZ by Author Frank Baum, Written 1900
Released 1939 as the first Color movie with sound,
9 Songs created and released,
The book was public domain in 1975,
The film and song rights ended in 2014,
Still sold at full price (http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=the+wonderful+wizard+of+oz)
(http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=sr_nr_n_11?fst=as%3Aoff&rh=n%3A283926%2Ck%3Athe+wizard+of+oz&keywords=the+wizard+of+oz&ie=UTF8&qid=1451463502&rnid=1642204031)
even though the rights no longer have to be paid, everyone involved has sued another party.
(https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=sued+for+wizard+of+oz+rights&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&gws_rd=cr&ei=15ODVrLtI4OLaq-5vIAB)