Songwriter Melissa Ferrick on Friday sued digital music streaming giant Spotify of wholesale copyright infringement. It marked the second of such suit in two weeks. Ferrick's complaint was filed in Los Angeles and is seeking class-action status, claiming songwriters should get more than $200 million from Spotify.
There seems to be an escalation of cases over online royalties and licensing. Ferrick's suit comes on the heels of Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven frontman David Lowery's separate class action suit against Spotify. He claims that the company knowingly distributes copyrighted content without license. Lowery is seeking at least $150 million in damages reports The Verge.
Lowery is said to represent a group of over 100 members who share his frustrations with Spotify. He accuses the streaming service of intentionally failing to obtain the proper licenses for the reproduction and distribution of copyrighted compositions.
Spotify gives its 75 million users virtually unlimited access to music that have caused the decline in recorded music sales. Many artists and songwriters have complained about paltry royalties from Spotify and other streaming services such as Rhapsody and Google Play Music.
LA Times reports that high profile artists that include Taylor Swift and Adele have previously expressed their resistance especially over Spotify's ad-supported version that allows access to its music library even without a subscription fee. Industry experts also say Spotify lacks the adequate systems to pay songwriters and publishers the royalties they are owed. However, Spotify said that it is investing in a system that will solve the problem.
Spotify revealed that it has paid more than $3 billion in royalties to artists, songwriters and the labels that represent them. The company is currently valued at $8billion.
In 2013, Spotify settled out of court Ministry of Sound's lawsuit against Spotify's refusal to delete user-created playlists that copied MoS' dance music compilations. Just last fall, Victory Records, a small Chicago label, claimed Spotify was underpaying its artists in royalties.
The National Music Publishers Association also claimed Spotify failed to accurately keep track of its royalty payments and sued the company. According to Billboard, the two are now in the midst of a settlement that will give publishers the power to request royalty payments in exchange for relinquishing legal claims over licensing fees.
If the NMPA agrees to settle, it will likely weaken Lowery's case and now, Ferricks's. It could also be one of Spotify's measures to manage its royalties payment problem after it admitted just last week that it was indeed having problems in ensuring artists and publishers are properly compensated.
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