Music industry legal news

Viagogo is unfair, opaque and violates EU law, consumer group tells regulator

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Viagogo • 2 min read

Viagogo is unfair, opaque and violates EU law, consumer group tells regulator

Viagogo is violating the EU’s Digital Services Act, according to Euroconsumers, which has filed a complaint with the regulator in Ireland. A Viagogo spokesperson insists the company is DSA compliant, but Euroconsumers says it violates various rules, including know your business customer requirements…

Chris Cooke • 22 Oct 2025

Suno doesn’t understand copyright law and is wrong about stream-ripping rules, say major labels

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Suno • 3 min read

Suno doesn’t understand copyright law and is wrong about stream-ripping rules, say major labels

The majors have made another filing in their legal battle with Suno. They want to add claims that the AI company sourced its training data by illegally stream-ripping audio from YouTube. Suno insists it didn’t violate stream-ripping rules in US law, but the majors say Suno is misreading those rules…

Chris Cooke • 22 Oct 2025

DSW Shoe Warehouse lawsuit over TikTok copyright infringement is nothing more than “forum-shopping”, says Sony Music

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Sony Music • 2 min read

DSW Shoe Warehouse lawsuit over TikTok copyright infringement is nothing more than “forum-shopping”, says Sony Music

Earlier this year DSW Shoe Warehouse filed a lawsuit against Sony Music asking a judge to rule it didn’t infringe the major’s copyrights by putting pop music into its TikTok videos. That sneakily preempted Sony’s own infringement lawsuit against DSW. Sony now wants the DSW litigation dismissed…

Chris Cooke • 22 Oct 2025

Attorneys bicker as the big ‘dembow riddim’ copyright case progresses

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Steely & Clevie • 3 min read

Attorneys bicker as the big ‘dembow riddim’ copyright case progresses

Last year a US judge declined to dismiss a lawsuit that accuses thousands of reggaeton releases of infringing the copyright in the ‘dembow riddim’, which originates in a 1989 track from Steely & Clevie. Attorneys working on the case are currently busy accusing each other of bad conduct…

Chris Cooke • 21 Oct 2025

Ticketmaster says FTC allegations it colluded with touts “nonsensical”, but it is changing some of its rules and shutting down TradeDesk

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Ticketmaster • 4 min read

Ticketmaster says FTC allegations it colluded with touts “nonsensical”, but it is changing some of its rules and shutting down TradeDesk

Last month the US Federal Trade Commission sued Ticketmaster, accusing the Live Nation company of colluding with dodgy ticket touts. That prompted a letter from concerned senators. In response, Ticketmaster denies collusion and rejects the FTC’s claims, but says it is changing some of its own rules…

Chris Cooke • 20 Oct 2025

Slipknot sue cybersquatter that has controlled the band’s dotcom domain since 2001

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Slipknot • 3 min read

Slipknot sue cybersquatter that has controlled the band’s dotcom domain since 2001

Slipknot have never owned the dotcom domain that uses their band name, an unknown third party having registered it back in 2001. But the band now claims that that third party is using the domain in bad faith and therefore violating US cybersquatting laws, as well as infringing their trademarks…

Chris Cooke • 20 Oct 2025

New Udio lawsuit hones in on the “significant and unequal harm” inflicted on independent musicians by music AI

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Udio • 3 min read

New Udio lawsuit hones in on the “significant and unequal harm” inflicted on independent musicians by music AI

Udio has been sued again for copyright infringement, this time by a group of independent artists and songwriters. Although the majors are already suing Udio, the music creators say that their lawsuit “emphasises the significant and unequal harm inflicted on independent musicians by AI”…

Chris Cooke • 17 Oct 2025

Majors tell US Supreme Court to ignore ISP’s doom and gloom predictions and uphold billion dollar piracy ruling

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Cox Communications • 3 min read

Majors tell US Supreme Court to ignore ISP’s doom and gloom predictions and uphold billion dollar piracy ruling

The majors have urged the US Supreme Court to uphold their billion dollar win in a piracy lawsuit against ISP Cox. It argues that that ruling will result in mass internet disconnections, but the majors say that’s not true, and that Cox was simply held liable after saying ‘fuck copyright law’…

Chris Cooke • 16 Oct 2025

Viagogo tells NZ court that thousands of complaints “don’t matter one hoot” when considering if it misled consumers

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Viagogo • 2 min read

Viagogo tells NZ court that thousands of complaints “don’t matter one hoot” when considering if it misled consumers

Last year the High Court in New Zealand ruled that Viagogo had misled consumers and had unfair terms relating to disputes. The secondary ticketing platform is appealing that judgement, arguing that the high number of complaints made against Viagogo is irrelevant but swayed the high court…

Chris Cooke • 15 Oct 2025

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Suno • 4 min read

Having been accused of stream-ripping by the majors, Suno and Udio intervene in high profile stream-ripper case

The major labels recently added stream-ripping allegations to their Suno and Udio lawsuits. The AI start-ups say the majors’ new claims are invalid, but fear that a ruling in an earlier legal battle involving stream-ripper Yout could open them to liability. So they want that earlier ruling changed…

Chris Cooke • 13 Oct 2025

Drake vows to appeal after judge throws out defamation lawsuit against Universal

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Drake • 3 min read

Drake vows to appeal after judge throws out defamation lawsuit against Universal

A New York judge has dismissed Drake’s defamation action against Universal Music over Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Not Like Us’, concluding that Lamar’s lyrics cannot be understood to “convey as a factual matter” that Drake is a pedophile. Drake’s legal team have already vowed to appeal the ruling…

Chris Cooke • 10 Oct 2025

Tim Westwood charged with four counts of rape

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Tim Westwood • 2 min read

Tim Westwood charged with four counts of rape

Tim Westwood has been charged with four counts of rape and additional charges of indecent and sexual assault following a Metropolitan Police investigation, which in turn followed the 2022 media report in which eighteen women accused the former BBC DJ of sexual misconduct and predatory behaviour…

Chris Cooke • 10 Oct 2025

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