Music Publishers Sue Twitter for $250 Million Over Copyright Infringement Claims

upstart writes:

They cite Musk's description of DMCA as a "plague on humanity":

Twitter is no stranger to lawsuits, but the latest filed against the company carries a lot of weight and a high price tag: 17 music publishers are suing Elon Musk's platform for $250 million over claims it "consistently and knowingly" allows and profits from copyright infringement.

The Tennesse lawsuit alleges that Twitter "fuels its business with countless infringing copies of musical compositions, violating Publishers' and others' exclusive rights under copyright law."

Musk's own statements are cited in the lawsuit. The Twitter owner once said copyright "goes absurdly far beyond protecting the original creator." He also complained that the "overzealous" application of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) "is a plague on humanity."

"Twitter knows perfectly well that neither it nor users of the Twitter platform have secured licenses for the rampant use of music being made on its platform as complained of herein," reads the suit. "Nonetheless, in connection with its highly interactive platform, Twitter consistently and knowingly hosts and streams infringing copies of musical compositions [...] Twitter also routinely continues to provide specific known repeat infringers with use of the Twitter platform, which they use for more infringement."

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