Spotify has become the target of a class action lawsuit, for allegedly failing to obtain proper licenses allowing it to stream certain songs and compositions. David Lowery, the frontman of Camper Van Beethoven and Cracker, filed the suit using law firm Michelman & Robinson LLP, demanding at least $150 million from the streaming service for “knowingly, willingly, and unlawfully” streaming the unlicensed content.
Filed at the Central District Court of California on December 28, Billboard reports the suit accuses Spotify of failing to identify or locate the owners of a number of compositions for payment, and did not issues a “notice of intent” to use a compulsory license. Spotify has allegedly “publicly” admitted to failing to acquire licenses from song owners, with Lowery claiming the service has created a reserve fund of millions of dollars to pay for the licenses if owners can be identified in the future.
Representing a proposed class, which is believed will exceed 100 members, Lowery and his legal team has asked the court to prevent Spotify from continuing the supposed infringement, to force the company to pay a third-party auditor to identify tracks with unidentified ownership, and restitution on unlawful proceeds. Based on statutory penalties, the complaint claims a judgment against Spotify could cost it between $750 and $30,000 for each infringed work, raising to $150,000 per willfully-infringed song.
“We are committed to paying songwriters and publishers every penny,” claims global head of communications and public policy at Spotify, Jonathan Prince. Advising that sometimes there isn’t enough data to confirm appropriate rightsholders for songs, and that it holds the royalties the song owner would have received for later payment in an account, Prince notes the streaming service is “working closely with the National Music Publishers Association to find the best way to correctly pay the royalties we have set aside.”
The lawsuit is the latest in a long line of disagreements between music rights holders and streaming services. Artists including Adele and Neil Young have stopped their work from being played on Spotify and other services, for reasons ranging from low royalties to low quality audio streams, with labels also seeking to dictate how their music gets used in free and low-cost plans. In March, the RIAA revealed that revenues from streaming had eclipsed revenues received from CD sales in the United States
