{"id":83689,"date":"2025-06-19T09:01:25","date_gmt":"2025-06-19T09:01:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/?p=83689"},"modified":"2025-06-19T09:01:25","modified_gmt":"2025-06-19T09:01:25","slug":"x-vs-music-publishers-settlement-looms-in-copyright-clash-after-maximum-pain-revelation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/?p=83689","title":{"rendered":"X vs. Music Publishers: Settlement Looms in Copyright Clash After \u201cMaximum Pain\u201d Revelation"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"xIn a complaint filed at a Nashville federal court two years ago, Universal Music, Sony Music, EMI and others, accused X Corp of \u2018breeding\u2019 mass copyright infringement<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The social media company allegedly failed to respond adequately to takedown notices and lacked a proper termination policy.<\/p>\n

The National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) claimed it had sent over 300,000 formal infringement notices, many of which didn\u2019t lead to immediate removals.<\/p>\n

\u201cTwitter routinely ignores known repeat infringers and known infringements, refusing to take simple steps that are available to Twitter to stop these specific instances of infringement of which it is aware,\u201d the music companies alleged.<\/p>\n

Twitter\/X Wins First Battle, Case Continues<\/h2>\n

Last year, X scored a partial win when the court dismissed the music publishers\u2019 direct and vicarious copyright infringement claims, and partially dismissed<\/a> claims of contributory infringement.<\/p>\n

Judge Trauger concluded that X can\u2019t be held liable for making it \u2018very easy\u2019 to upload infringing material or for monetizing pirated content. These characteristics are not exclusive to infringing material and apply to legitimate content too, she argued.<\/p>\n

With elements of the contributory infringement claim still intact, the lawsuit was allowed to move forward on those grounds. They include claims that X\u2019s repeat infringer policy was inadequate and that it willingly turned a blind eye to pirating users, especially those who have a blue checkmark.<\/p>\n

\u201cParticularly striking is the allegation that X Corp. enforces its copyright policies less stringently against individuals willing to pay for its \u2018verified\u2019 service,\u201d Judge Trauger wrote in her order.<\/p>\n

X Seeks Documents from NMPA CEO<\/h2>\n

Over the past several months, both parties have conducted discovery to gather further evidence. As part of this process, X sought information from the NMPA, including its President and CEO David Israelite. <\/p>\n

The NMPA is not directly involved as a plaintiff in the case, but since its infringement notices are at the basis of this lawsuit, X believes that its information is relevant. <\/p>\n

The NMPA was willing to share information but refused to hand over other relevant information, according to X. This includes documents from its President and CEO, with the NMPA describing Israelite as an \u201capex\u201d figure who did not \u201coperate\u201d the notice program. <\/p>\n

X was unhappy with the refusal and earlier this month filed a heavily redacted motion to compel the NMPA to hand over the requested documents, including those related to its top executive. <\/p>\n

According to X, Mr. Israelite oversees all aspects of NMPA\u2019s operations, including legal strategy and advocacy. He has also made extensive public statements about the lawsuit and the alleged copyright infringement by X, even calling Twitter his \u201ctop legal focus\u201d shortly before the lawsuit was filed.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Mr. Israelite\u2019s involvement?<\/em><\/center>
\"israel\"<\/center><\/p>\n

X also noted that on several occasions, Mr. Israelite had commented on X\u2019s actions in the media. In 2023, after the lawsuit was filed, he informed the Hollywood Reporter<\/a> that X can\u2019t \u201chide behind the DMCA.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cMaximum Pain\u201d<\/h2>\n

The motion to compel is heavily redacted, but it appears that X believes that the NMPA played a key role in the lawsuit, and that it wasn\u2019t merely concerned about the removal of infringing content. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not disputed that NMPA conceived of and controlled the process that led to this litigation,\u201d X writes, adding that Mr. Israelite has been very vocal in the press, condemning its actions, and hinting at a lawsuit before it started.<\/p>\n

According to X, the requested discovery is important to show that NMPA used its takedown notice campaign as a tool to inflict \u201cmaximum pain\u201d on X, to motivate Elon Musk\u2019s platform to sign music licensing agreements.<\/p>\n

\u201cNMPA\u2019s motive for initiating its notice program against X was not to obtain the removal of allegedly infringing videos posted to the X platform, but to inflict maximum pain on X\u2019s business so that X would be more inclined to enter into music licenses with NMPA\u2019s member,\u201d X writes. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cMaximum Pain\u201d<\/em><\/center>
\"max<\/center><\/p>\n

These are explosive allegations that have yet to be proven; if indeed the case even makes it that far.<\/p>\n

Suddenly\u2026 a Settlement is Looming<\/h2>\n

After a few days, X dismissed its motion to compel and around the same time, both parties informed the court that they were trying to \u201camicably resolve\u201d the entire lawsuit, requesting a stay of 90 days.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no evidence that there\u2019s a causal link between X\u2019s explosive allegations and the sudden agreement between the two parties. However, with less than a week between the two filings after nearly two years of battling it out in court, the timing is noteworthy. <\/p>\n

Commenting on the change of course in the lawsuit, an NMPA spokesperson informed<\/a> the Hollywood Reporter that the group hopes that the case will result in a licensing deal.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe intent of the stay is to discuss with X the resolution of the suit and proper compensation to songwriters and publishers for past unlicensed uses, while providing an opportunity for go forward licensing.\u201d <\/p>\n

For now, Judge Trauger has granted the 90 days stay. If X and the music publishers can reach a settlement, with or without a licensing deal, the lawsuit will be over. That also means the finer details of the alleged \u2018maximum pain\u2019 strategy are unlikely to see the light of day.<\/p>\n

\u2014<\/em><\/p>\n

A copy of X Corp\u2019s motion to compel is available here (pdf)<\/a>. The order to stay the related case can be found here (pdf)<\/a><\/p>\n

From: TF<\/a>, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.<\/p>\n

Powered by WPeMatico<\/a><\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a complaint filed at a Nashville federal court two years ago, Universal Music, Sony Music, EMI and others, accused X Corp of \u2018breeding\u2019 mass copyright infringement. The social media company allegedly failed to respond adequately to takedown notices and lacked a proper termination policy. The National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) claimed it had sent […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":83690,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[308],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-83689","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-torrent"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83689","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=83689"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83689\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/83690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=83689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=83689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=83689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}