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“X has been denied the ability to acquire a U.S. musical-composition license from any individual music publisher on competitive terms,” the lawsuit said.
The National Music Publishers’ Association, Sony Music, Universal Music and Warner Chappell did not immediately respond to requests for comment. X did not immediately respond to a similar request.
The lawsuit alleges that publishers representing more than 90% of U.S. copyrighted music joined forces through the National Music Publishers’ Association in conspiring against X.
X said the publishers have flooded the platform with weekly takedown notices targeting thousands of posts containing copyrighted music — including content from high-profile accounts — to pressure the platform into accepting industrywide licensing terms.
The complaint said X has removed thousands of posts and suspended more than 50,000 users, harming its user base and advertising revenue. It asked the court to restore competitive conditions in music licensing and compensate X for lost advertising revenue.
X said in Friday’s lawsuit that some of the publishers who sued have been willing to negotiate a settlement on individual terms.
Reporting by Mike Scarcella; Editing by David Bario and Bill Berkrot
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