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Music streaming giant Spotify faces lawsuit by Wixen


Sheetal Sukhija
3 Jan 2018

STOCKHOLM, Sweden - The Wixen Music Publishing Inc has slapped a lawsuit against music streaming company Spotify for allegedly using thousands of songs without a license.

According to Wixen, Spotify used songs, including those of Tom Petty, Neil Young and the Doors and did not compensate the music publisher.

Wixen, which is an exclusive licensee of songs such as “Free Fallin” by Tom Petty, “Light My Fire” by the Doors, “(Girl We Got a) Good Thing” by Weezer and works of singers such as Stevie Nicks, is seeking damages worth $1.6 billion along with injunctive relief.

Wixen said in the lawsuit, filed in a California federal court that the music streaming giant Spotify failed to get a direct or a compulsory license from Wixen that would allow it to reproduce and distribute the songs.

In its allegations, Wixen claimed that Spotify outsourced its work to a third party, licensing and royalty services provider the Harry Fox Agency, which was “ill-equipped to obtain all the necessary mechanical licenses.”

So far, Spotify has not made any official comments on the lawsuit.

In May last year, the Sweden-based company paid over $43 million to settle a proposed class action that alleged that it failed to pay royalties for some of the songs it makes available to users.

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