Metal Anarchy

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Wixen Music Publishing filed a lawsuit against Spotify in California federal court on December 29, due to them using songs across various genres “without a license and compensation.” They are seeking $1.6 billion plus injunctive relief for damages. The lawsuit covers many of Wixen’s clients including: Rage Against the Machine’s Zack de la Rocha and Tom Morello, Weezer’s Rivers Cuomo, the late Tom Petty, The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach, Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon, The Doors, Neil Young and tons more.

This news comes after Spotify previously offered a $43 million settlement when songwriters, who were led by David Lowery and Melissa Ferrick, filed a suit in May, due to inadequate payment related to mechanical licenses for song compositions. Two other lawsuits were also filed in July, due to claims that Spotify did not comply with with Section 115 of the U.S. Copyright Act.

Wixen decided not to get involved with the Ferrick class, because they say “The Settlement Agreement is procedurally and substantively unfair to Settlement Class Members because it prevents meaningful participation by rights holders and offers them an unfair dollar amount in light of Spotify’s ongoing, willful copyright infringement of their works.”

The article went on to say Spotify are questioning if Wixen’s lawsuit was authorized by their clients, because “songwriters have administrative agreements with Wixen allowing the publisher to negotiate licensing deals,” but “these agreements are silent about litigation.”

“Spotify brazenly disregards United States Copyright law and has committed willful, ongoing copyright infringement,” Wixen said. “Wixen notified Spotify that it had neither obtained a direct or compulsory mechanical license for the use of the Works. For these reasons and the foregoing, Wixen is entitled to the maximum statutory relief.” The suit even goes as far as suggesting that “as much as 21 percent of the 30 million songs on Spotify are unlicensed,”.

In late December, “Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.) and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) introduced the Music Modernization Act, which among other things, would end the ‘notice of intent’ process that’s currently spelled out by Section 115.” Considering this act would have an effect on copyright holders suing over mechanical reproduction starting this year, it makes since for the suit to have been filed before the end of 2017.

“We are very disappointed that these services will retroactively get a free pass for actions that were previously illegal unless we actually file suit before January 1, 2018,” Wixen president Randall Wixen told The Hollywood Reporter. “Neither we nor our clients are interested in becoming litigants but we have been faced with a choice of forfeiting rights and damages, or taking action at this time. We regret that this otherwise admirable proposed bill has had this effect, and we hope that Spotify nonetheless comes to the table with a fair and reasonable approach to reaching a resolution with us. We are fully prepared to go as far forward in the courts as required to protect our clients’ rights.”