Music industry legal news

Dua Lipa latest artist to go after merch bootleggers

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Dua Lipa • 2 min read

Dua Lipa latest artist to go after merch bootleggers

Dua Lipa is the latest artist to file a lawsuit seeking to block the sale of unofficial merchandise. Like Benson Boone and Tate McRae, she is trying to block the sale of knock-off merch outside her US shows. Other artists have sued Chinese e-commerce platform Temu over counterfeit merch products…

Chris Cooke • 11 Sep 2025

Sonos wants courts to dismiss SoundExchange lawsuit after controversial Sirius ruling

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SoundExchange • 2 min read

Sonos wants courts to dismiss SoundExchange lawsuit after controversial Sirius ruling

Last month a US judge threw out a lawsuit filed by SoundExchange against Sirius XM on the basis the collecting society isn’t empowered to file litigation over royalty disputes. Sonos, also fighting a lawsuit from the society, says its litigation should now be dismissed as well on the same grounds…

Chris Cooke • 11 Sep 2025

CD sales in the US plunge in first half of 2025 as paid streaming subscriptions hit 105 million users

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RIAA • 2 min read

CD sales in the US plunge in first half of 2025 as paid streaming subscriptions hit 105 million users

The RIAA has published stats for the US recorded music market for the first half of 2025, with paid streaming subscriptions in the country now exceeding 105 million. Streaming income was up 5.7%, but physical sales - especially CD - declined, so that overall recorded music revenues are up just 0.9%…

Chris Cooke • 10 Sep 2025

Anthropic will pay authors $1.5 billion to settle AI copyright case

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Anthropic • 3 min read

Anthropic will pay authors $1.5 billion to settle AI copyright case

Last month a US judge threw out a royalties lawsuit filed by SoundExchange against satellite broadcaster Sirius XM, concluding that the collecting society doesn’t actually have the right to sue its licensees. SoundExchange says that ruling was “erroneous” and is now taking the matter to appeal…

Chris Cooke • 08 Sep 2025

Plethora of tech companies and organisations back Cox as Supreme Court considers billion dollar music piracy case

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Cox Communications • 4 min read

Plethora of tech companies and organisations back Cox as Supreme Court considers billion dollar music piracy case

American ISP Cox Communications wants the US Supreme Court to overturn the billion dollar music piracy judgement secured against it by the major labels. Last week loads of tech companies and trade organisations, and the US DoJ, made filings with the top court backing Cox and its legal arguments…

Chris Cooke • 08 Sep 2025

SoundExchange appeals ruling that says it can’t file lawsuits when licensees fail to pay all the royalties that are due

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SoundExchange • 3 min read

SoundExchange appeals ruling that says it can’t file lawsuits when licensees fail to pay all the royalties that are due

Last month a US judge threw out a royalties lawsuit filed by collecting society SoundExchange against satellite broadcaster Sirius XM, concluding that society doesn’t actually have the right to sue its licensees. SoundExchange says that ruling was “erroneous” and is now taking the matter to appeal…

Chris Cooke • 08 Sep 2025

Lyrics giants’ faceoff will proceed in US courts as judge refuses to dismiss LyricFind v Musixmatch lawsuit

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LyricFind • 3 min read

Lyrics giants’ faceoff will proceed in US courts as judge refuses to dismiss LyricFind v Musixmatch lawsuit

Musixmatch has failed to get an antitrust lawsuit filed against it by rival LyricFind dismissed. As a result, the litigation will now proceed. LyricFind claims that an exclusivity deal between Musixmatch and Warner Chappell was anticompetitive and designed to scupper its deal with Spotify…

Chris Cooke • 05 Sep 2025

Sting owes us £1.5m from 1970s song split deal, say former bandmates

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The Police • 3 min read

Sting owes us £1.5m from 1970s song split deal, say former bandmates

It emerged last month that former members of The Police were locked in a legal battle, with Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland claiming that Sting owes them £1.5 million in publishing royalties stemming from a 1970s band agreement. More details about that dispute are now known…

Chris Cooke • 03 Sep 2025

Billion dollar piracy win for majors “defies common law and common sense” says Cox

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Cox Communications • 3 min read

Billion dollar piracy win for majors “defies common law and common sense” says Cox

The US Supreme Court has agreed to review the long-running legal battle between ISP Cox and the major labels. Cox wants the top court to reverse the billion dollar ruling in that litigation and, in a new court filing, again claims that failing to do so will result in mass internet disconnections…

Chris Cooke • 01 Sep 2025

Court dismisses Dave Rowntree’s black box lawsuit against PRS

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PRS For Music • 5 min read

Court dismisses Dave Rowntree’s black box lawsuit against PRS

A UK court has dismissed a class action lawsuit filed by Blur drummer Dave Rowntree against PRS over the collecting society’s black box distribution rules. PRS raised various issues with Rowntree’s ‘collective competition proceedings’, with judges ultimately granting its bid to strike the action…

Chris Cooke • 29 Aug 2025

Sony’s merch division seeks court order banning sale of Benson Boone knock-offs

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Benson Boone • 2 min read

Sony’s merch division seeks court order banning sale of Benson Boone knock-offs

Benson Boone is on tour around the US and bootleggers are trying to sell knock off merch outside his shows. He works with Sony Music’s Ceremony Of Roses on his official merchandise, and it wants a court order banning the sale and ordering confiscation of all the knock offs…

Chris Cooke • 29 Aug 2025

Just three years after overhauling its top team, Sony Australia faces fresh accusations of a toxic workplace culture

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Sony Music • 2 min read

Just three years after overhauling its top team, Sony Australia faces fresh accusations of a toxic workplace culture

Sony Music has responded to a newspaper report about its Australian division, which said employees had complained about a toxic workplace under CEO Vanessa Picken, who was hired after a previous scandal about the division’s corporate culture. The major says “we take all concerns very seriously”…

Chris Cooke • 28 Aug 2025

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