Twitter Sued for $250 Million Over Alleged Mass Copyright Infringement

The lawsuit accuses Twitter of hosting and streaming copyright-protected music without proper licensing, despite calls to obtain the necessary licenses.

The lawsuit states that Twitter has profited from the infringement by monetizing tweets and users via advertising and data licensing, and that it has an unfair advantage over competing platforms.

Twitter has been notified of over 300,000 infringing tweets, but has often failed to remove them in a timely manner, according to the suit.

The lawsuit also claims that Twitter has not implemented a policy to terminate repeat infringers, and that users who repeatedly infringe copyrights do not face a realistic prospect of losing access to their accounts on the platform.

Production companies are suing Verizon Wireless, AT&T, and Comcast for allegedly facilitating mass piracy of their movies by turning a blind eye to customers who illegally distribute and download pirated films.

The publishers argue that the purpose of using music on Twitter is to maximize views and make posts more compelling, not for political or newsworthy speech.

The suit seeks $150,000 for each infringed work, claiming direct copyright infringement, contributory infringement, and vicarious infringement.

The National Music Publishers Association represents 17 publishers that sued, including Anthem Entertainment, Big Machine Music, and Spirit Music Group.

Twitter was exploring the licensing of music rights from three major labels before Musk’s takeover, and more than 20 members of Congress called on the company to adopt robust content protection technology to decrease the posting of infringing content.

Twitter was also hit with a similar suit from celebrity photo agency Backgrid over the alleged infringement of thousands of its photographs by users on the platform.