Universal Music Group (UMG), ABKCO and Concord Music Group have filed a lawsuit against Believe and its distribution subsidiary TuneCore, accusing the French music giant of “massive ongoing infringements” of their catalogs and seeking “at least” $500 million in damages, according to a report from Billboard.
The colossal lawsuit, filed yesterday, November 4, in a Manhattan federal court, accuses TuneCore, a platform that allows independent artists to distribute their music on paid digital streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon, of being “overrun with fraudulent ‘artists’ and pirate record labels”
UMG, ABKCO and Concord collectively allege that these bad actors distributed fraudulent copies of their catalog tracks by artists like Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, Rihanna, ABBA, Kendrick Lamar, Lady Gaga, DJ Snake, and more to streaming services and social media platforms, attempting to avoid detection by uploading sped-up versions of songs and using misspelled names like “Kendrik Laamar” and “Jutin Biber.”
TuneCore, which was purchased by Believe for an undisclosed total in 2015, has paid artists over $4 billion in royalty revenue since 2006, according to its website.
The lawsuit goes on to claim that Believe “turned a blind eye” to the infringing content that makes its way to the digital public through its platform and that the company “is fully aware that its business model is fueled by rampant piracy” in “pursuit of rapid growth,” according to Billboard.
“It’s no wonder that Believe has been outspoken against the streaming reform principles for which so many major and independent labels have been advocating,” a UMG spokesperson said in a statement. “Why? Because such reforms would undermine and expose their system of building scale and market presence by distributing music for which they have no rights and illegally collecting royalties to enrich themselves and their co-conspirators.”
A spokesperson for Believe denied UMG’s accusations, telling Billboard, “As companies that work with artists and labels around the world, we take the respect of copyright very seriously. We strongly refute these claims, and the statements made by Universal Music Group and will fight them. We have developed robust tools and processes to tackle this industry-wide challenge, working collaboratively with partners and peers and will continue to do so.”
Read the full lawsuit, obtained by Music Business Worldwide, here.
Featured image from Pexels.com.
