Federal Judge Allows Copyright Infringement Suit Against Elon Musk’s X to Proceed
A federal judge has given the green light for parts of a $250 million copyright infringement lawsuit to move forward against Elon Musk’s X, dealing a setback to the social media company amid accusations of facilitating unauthorized use of artists’ music.
The ruling exposes X, formerly known as Twitter, to allegations that it provided preferential treatment to paying “verified” subscribers, allowing them greater latitude to share copyrighted music without permission compared to non-paying users. Filed by the National Music Publishers’ Association, the lawsuit asserts that X delayed responses to copyright infringement notices and failed to take sufficient action against repeat offenders.
US District Judge Aleta Trauger permitted these claims to proceed, suggesting that if proven, they could establish that X knowingly facilitated the purported infringement. However, she dismissed allegations that X directly engaged in stealing artists’ intellectual property.
While many major social media platforms pay licensing fees to music publishers for users to share songs, the lawsuit against X highlights alleged infringements on over 1,700 songs, including popular hits like Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” Outkast’s “Hey Ya!,” and Mark Ronson’s “Uptown Funk” featuring Bruno Mars.
Trauger’s opinion from the US District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee suggests that if X knowingly allowed users to misuse the platform for copyright infringement, it could be held liable as a contributor to the infringement, signaling potential legal ramifications for the company moving forward.
