Musk’s X, major labels end dispute over music on social media platform

• Major music publishers including Universal and Sony have agreed to end their legal dispute with Elon Musk’s X Corp over music copyright infringement claims.
• Both parties asked federal courts to dismiss lawsuits accusing each other of copyright violations and antitrust issues, with dismissals made with prejudice.
• The original lawsuit sought over $250 million for alleged infringement, but courts limited claims and allowed some to continue before the dispute moved towards resolution.

WASHINGTON - A group of major music publishers including Universal Music Group and Sony Music have agreed to end a legal dispute with Elon Musk’s X Corp over the use of their music on the X social media platform, according to federal court filings.

X Corp and the music labels asked a Tennessee federal court on July 16 to dismiss the labels’ lawsuit that accused X of infringing hundreds of their copyrights by allowing its users to post their songs without a licence.

They also asked a Texas federal court to dismiss a countersuit X had filed that accused the labels of conspiring to block competition and forcing the platform to license their songs at inflated rates.

Spokespeople for X Corp, the labels and their trade group the National Music Publishers Association did not immediately respond to requests for comment and more information, including whether their dispute was settled.

The filings asked the courts to dismiss the claims with prejudice, which means they cannot be refiled.

A group of 17 music publishers sued X in Nashville, Tennessee in 2023, seeking more than US$250 million (S$322 million) in damages for the alleged infringement of nearly 1,700 copyrights.

The lawsuit said that X “routinely ignores” users’ copyright infringement and that other major platforms like TikTok, Facebook and YouTube properly license music from the publishers.

X convinced the court to dismiss much of the lawsuit in 2024.

US District Judge Aleta Trauger said that X could not be held liable for direct or vicarious copyright infringement, but allowed part of the labels’ contributory infringement claim to continue.

X countersued the publishers in Texas in January, accusing them of violating federal antitrust law by refusing to negotiate individual licensing deals.

The publishers told the court in April that the case should be dismissed. REUTERS