Elon Musk’s Twitter finds itself in a cacophony of legal trouble as music firms unleash a $250 million lawsuit, accusing the microblogging site of copyright infringement and demanding $150,000 per work violated. 

What Happened: National Music Publishers’ Association has filed a lawsuit against Twitter, accusing it of violating songwriters’ copyrights. 

The NMPA, representing music companies, including Sony Group Corp’s (NYSE:SONY) Sony Music and Universal Music Publishing Group (OTC:UMGNF), alleged that the site has been using their music without obtaining proper permission or paying the necessary licensing fees, reported Bloomberg. 

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As a result, the NMPA is seeking damages of up to $150,000 for each piece of work infringed, culminating in a total demand exceeding $250 million.

Twitter’s Pre-Acquisition Negotiations: Before Musk acquired Twitter in 2022, the company was reportedly engaged in discussions with music firms regarding potential licensing deals.

However, since the tech billionaire assumed control, these negotiations seem to have taken a back seat, as he has focused on internal restructuring and addressing concerns from advertisers who have distanced themselves from the platform. 

What Twitter Has To Say On The Matter: At the time of writing, Twitter has not issued an official response to the lawsuit or the allegations made by the NMPA. However, the social media platform’s silence on the matter could mean it is preparing a strategic legal defense to counter the claims of copyright infringement.

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