Spotify is once again facing lawsuits for allegedly streaming music without proper licensing. The world’s largest music streaming service has been accused of “staggering” copyright infringement.
Spotify’s history of lawsuits
Spotify is no stranger to lawsuits and has been accused of failing to obtain compulsory licenses in the past.
Just three months ago Spotify was accused of unpaid royalties to artists. A report showed that Apple Music was paying artists double what Spotify was. Spotify has been seen trying to rectify this but it once again facing lawsuits. In 2015, Spotify agreed to pay a $43.4 million settlement for failing to pay licensing fees, another example of Spotify’s long history of lawsuits.
The two lawsuits in question
The two lawsuits against Spotify involve thousands of songs. The first lawsuit comes from Bob Gaudio, the founding member of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. Gaudio is accusing Spotify of providing users access to a number of his most famous songs without there being a complete licensing agreement in place. Gaudio claims 106 songs were posted without proper licensing.
Bluewater Music Services Corporation, who manage publishing rights for artists such as Guns ‘N Roses and Miranda Lambert, have filed the other lawsuit. Bluewater, who’s case involves 2,339 songs, have commented on the case:
“Anything less than the maximum $150,000 statutory damage award for each of the Infringed Works involved herein would encourage infringement, amount to a slap on the wrist, and reward a multi-billion dollar company, about to go public, that rules the streaming market through a pattern of willful infringement on a staggering scale.”
Richard Busch’s involvement
Both publishers are represented by copyright lawyer Richard Busch. Busch has commented that Spotify’s have had unfairly low settlements to pay in recent lawsuits and has stated:
“As we say in the Complaint, songwriters and publishers should not have to work this hard to get paid, or have their life work properly licensed, and companies should not be allowed to build businesses on the concept of infringe now and ask questions later,”
The two lawsuits are aiming for a maximum $150,000 damages for each infringed work. Whether the affected artists will receive the justice they deserve remains to be seen.
