In late December 2017, just days ahead of Spotify USA's initial public offering, Wixen Music Publishing filed a $1.6 billion lawsuit for copyright infringement against the streaming service giant.
The suit, filed in a California federal court, seeks damages stemming from Spotify's alleged repeated use of thousands of songs without appropriate licenses. Wixen also seeks injunctive relief which would require Spotify to "develop and implement procedures for identifying and properly licensing songs," according to the complaint.
According to reports, in December 2017 Spotify was valued at approximately $19 billion. The company apparently hoped to file an IPO in late 2017 and to list with the New York Stock Exchange in 2018.
Benjamin Semel, a partner in Pryor Cashman's Music Litigation practice, recently spoke with the Westlaw Journal of Intellectual Property about Wixen's suit.
"This lawsuit speaks to the risk for music services like Spotify of a strategy to seek forgiveness rather than permission," he said. "The law sets out a very specific process that must be followed to compel [songwriters and publishers to license their songs]. Failure to follow the process in good faith...can leave a music service like Spotify asking for forgiveness from an awful lot of people," he cautioned.
To read the full interview, please click here.
More About Semel's Practice
Benjamin Semel has extensive experience litigating complex intellectual property matters, including disputes over trademark and trade secret protection, copyrights in film, television, music, software, literature and architectural works, and rights of publicity and privacy, as well as allegations of idea theft. He also has an active practice in technology law, managing issues for digital media and emerging technology companies.
To learn more about his work, please visit here.
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