Digital services and platforms news - CMU | the music business explained

X says Cox ruling means music publishers’ copyright litigation must now be dismissed

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X • 4 min read

X says Cox ruling means music publishers’ copyright litigation must now be dismissed

X is hoping the US Supreme Court ruling in the majors v Cox case can help it win a legal battle with a group of music publishers. They argue X is liable for copyright infringement by hosting videos that contain unlicensed music, but X says in the wake of Cox that argument “fails as a matter of law”…

Chris Cooke • 31 Mar 2026

Spotify wants $300 million in damages from Anna’s Archive, and for court to go after piracy site’s service providers

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Anna's Archive • 4 min read

Spotify wants $300 million in damages from Anna’s Archive, and for court to go after piracy site’s service providers

Piracy group Anna’s Archive have done a good job of ignoring the lawsuit filed by Spotify and the majors after they hacked the streaming service and grabbed 86 million music files. As a result, the music companies want a default judgement in their favour, with Spotify seeking $300 million in damages…

Chris Cooke • 27 Mar 2026

Cox Communications celebrates as US Supreme Court overturns critical music piracy judgement

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Cox Communications • 8 min read

Cox Communications celebrates as US Supreme Court overturns critical music piracy judgement

Yesterday the US Supreme Court overturned the major labels’ billion dollar copyright win against ISP Cox. The ruling not only costs the majors $1 billion dollars, it also affects their ability to combat online piracy. The RIAA says policymakers should “look closely at the impact of this ruling”…

Chris Cooke • 26 Mar 2026

TikTok and X “neutral” on social media ban for under-sixteens, as UK government tests options for restricting access

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• 3 min read

TikTok and X “neutral” on social media ban for under-sixteens, as UK government tests options for restricting access

The debate over banning younger UK teens from using social media continues. The House Of Lords supports a ban, but the government wants more time to review the matter and is now testing possible options for restricting access. Meanwhile, TikTok and X say they are “neutral” on any possible ban…

Chris Cooke • 26 Mar 2026

Copyright Alliance welcomes separate AI documents published by White House and Congress, even though they differ on copyright matters

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Artificial Intelligence • 4 min read

Copyright Alliance welcomes separate AI documents published by White House and Congress, even though they differ on copyright matters

Two documents on regulating AI were published in Washington last week, one by President Donald Trump and one by Senator Marsha Blackburn. They say opposing things when it comes to copyright matters. But the Copyright Alliance was still able to find positives in both of the documents…

Chris Cooke • 24 Mar 2026

American man pleads guilty to multi-million dollar streaming fraud, faces five years in jail

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Streaming Fraud • 3 min read

American man pleads guilty to multi-million dollar streaming fraud, faces five years in jail

The American man who was arrested in 2024 for running a multi-million dollar streaming fraud operation has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He made thousands of tracks that got billions of artificial streams, generating millions in royalties. He now faces up to five years in jail…

Chris Cooke • 20 Mar 2026

Cautious welcome for UK government’s latest AI copyright stance, as BMG files latest Anthropic lawsuit

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Artificial Intelligence • 4 min read

Cautious welcome for UK government’s latest AI copyright stance, as BMG files latest Anthropic lawsuit

The UK government yesterday abandoned plans for an AI copyright exception, although it doesn’t currently have a plan B. The music industry is glad the new exception is off the agenda, but concerns remain. Meanwhile, Sony has been discussing the deepfake problem, and BMG has sued Anthropic…

Chris Cooke • 19 Mar 2026

Spotify dubs itself the “the $11 billion+ growth engine” in latest Loud & Clear update

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Spotify • 4 min read

Spotify dubs itself the “the $11 billion+ growth engine” in latest Loud & Clear update

Spotify has updated its Loud & Clear website with 2025 stats, including that it paid more than $11 billion into the music industry last year, with more than 1500 artists now making more than a million a year on the platform. But will the big stats help placate Spotify critics in the music community?…

Chris Cooke • 11 Mar 2026

Anna’s Archive ignores court order and starts making stolen Spotify files available to torrent

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Anna's Archive • 3 min read

Anna’s Archive ignores court order and starts making stolen Spotify files available to torrent

Last month a US court issued an injunction banning piracy activist group Anna’s Archive from making available any of the music files it grabbed when hacking the Spotify platform last year. Totally ignoring that court order, the piracy group is now enabling users to download about 2.8 million tracks…

Chris Cooke • 12 Feb 2026

Spotify sets out lobbing agenda on leaky pipes, transparency, streaming fraud and levies

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Spotify • 3 min read

Spotify sets out lobbing agenda on leaky pipes, transparency, streaming fraud and levies

Spotify has set out an agenda for how “governments in partnership with industry” could address some of the issues in streaming, including demands around metadata and leaky royalty pipes, as well as calls around AI and streaming fraud. It also once again sets out its opposition to streaming levies…

Chris Cooke • 09 Feb 2026

Pandora accuses MLC of “abusing its position” as it pushes for summary judgement in royalties dispute

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Pandora • 3 min read

Pandora accuses MLC of “abusing its position” as it pushes for summary judgement in royalties dispute

Pandora and The MLC have both submitted motions seeking summary judgements in their favour in an ongoing dispute over when the US streaming service should be paying mechanical royalties. Both submissions are forthright, with Pandora claiming that the MLC is “exploiting” and “abusing” its position…

Chris Cooke • 09 Feb 2026

EU regulators tell TikTok to make changes to its “addictive design”

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TikTok • 1 min read

EU regulators tell TikTok to make changes to its “addictive design”

TikTok may be forced to make changes to its app in Europe after EU regulators said it had failed to “adequately assess” the negative impact of its “addictive design”. But TikTok says the European Commission has presented a “categorically false and entirely meritless depiction of our platform”…

Chris Cooke • 09 Feb 2026