[gtranslate]
News

Spotify have been hit with two lawsuits for copyright infringement, again

Just weeks after settling a class action lawsuit over copyright infringement, Spotify have been hit with two lawsuits of the same nature, Pitchfork reports via THR.

Spotify

Spotify have been hit with two separate lawsuits for copyright infringement from two Nashville-based music publishers.

In separate suits, two publishers from Nashville claim that the streaming service failed to obtain the necessary licenses to host music from their respective catalogs.

According to Pitchfork, Bob Gaudio – a songwriter and founding member of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons – is suing Spotify for the unlawful use of over 100 of his compositions.

In the other suit, Bluewater Music Services Corporation lists 2,399 songs on the streaming platform under infringement, according to Variety, which include works from Willie Nelson snd Guns ‘n’ Roses.

Both are asking for $150,000 per instance, which is the maximum maximum statutory damage amount under U.S. copyright law.

The two lawsuits were filed by a Nashville law firm, who said in a statement that “songwriters and publishers should not have to work this hard to get paid, or have their life work properly licensed, and companies should not be allowed to build businesses on the concept of infringe now and ask questions later.”

The court document claims, “Spotify’s apparent business model from the outset was to commit willful copyright infringements first, ask questions later, and try to settle on the cheap when inevitably sued.”

Thew news comes just a few weeks after Spotify was accused of allegedly inserting ‘fake’ artists into playlists on the platform.

[via Pitchfork]