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Sony sues Moody Recordings in Dancin dispute
By Chris Cooke | Published on Wednesday 12 April 2023
Sony Music Spain and the major’s dance music centric label Ultra Records have sued Colorado-based Moody Recordings in a dispute over the Aaron Smith and Luvli track ‘Dancin’, of which the Krono Remix is best known.
According to a lawsuit filed with the courts in Colorado, Sony’s Spanish division entered into a licensing deal with Moody in 2014 giving it the exclusive rights to exploit the track ‘Dancin’ in all but the Benelux region for ten years.
Sony Spain then in turn granted Ultra – already allied with the major by that point – the rights to release the record in the US and Canada.
But then, it alleges, “in 2019 defendants created an unauthorised version of the track ‘Dancin'” and subsequently “engaged in, and authorised, the reproduction, distribution, public communication and making available [of that version] through inter alia various digital music streaming, distribution and download platforms”.
That included Spotify, Amazon Music and iTunes in “the United States, Canada and other territories around the world such as the United Kingdom, Spain and many others where plaintiffs maintain the exclusive rights to distribute and otherwise exploit” the track.
All of which breaches the 2014 licensing agreement and constitutes copyright infringement, Sony alleges. The lawsuit targets the label and its founders Jonas Tempel and William Renkosik aka DJ Bad Boy Bill.
