Twitter is facing a lawsuit from the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA), which is seeking more than $250 million in damages for alleged copyright infringement. The NMPA, representing artists such as Taylor Swift and Beyoncé, argues that Twitter profits from the use of unlicensed music in user-generated content.

Unlike other social media platforms (including YouTube, Facebook, and TikTok), Twitter has not established licensing arrangements for music use. The NMPA alleges that this has led to widespread copyright infringement, harming music creators.

Twitter has previously claimed compliance with federal copyright law and asserted that it has processes to handle takedown requests. However, the NMPA counters that Twitter is slow to remove infringing content and often fails to act on flagged videos.

The lawsuit adds to the challenges faced by Twitter’s new CEO, Linda Yaccarino, who is tasked with stabilizing the company’s advertising business. It also raises questions about the legal approach of Twitter’s owner, Elon Musk.

This case shines a bright light on the need for a fair and effective system to manage copyrights on digital platforms as they exist today, but it won’t deal with the nascent, potentially much bigger battle over who can own and profit from works created by (or in collaboration with) AI.

If you want to dive deeper into how the current copyright law works and how it needs to evolve, please sign up for our free online course, Generative AI for Execs. There are special sections covering intellectual property and the impact generative AI is likely to have on content creators and rights holders.

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