Twitter International it is alleged does not pay for music on its short message service X (formerly Twitter). The music collecting organization Suisa Digital is therefore suing the owner of the short message service for copyright infringement.
Guilty of IP theft? A Munich court looks set to decide.
In the lawsuit before the Regional Court of Munich I, Twitter International is accused of using music represented by Suisa Digital on Platform X without a license. This was announced by Suisa Digital, the representative of the online music rights, on Wednesday. The short text messages or tweets sent on X can contain videos that are accompanied by music.
No reaction from Twitter International
Suisa Digital has been trying unsuccessfully to negotiate corresponding license agreements with Twitter International for six months. Twitter International has neither responded to corresponding emails nor removed the offending videos from X, according to the press release. Therefore, “as a last resort, legal proceedings have now been initiated”. The plaintiff considers this necessary because “the copyrights of Suisa members are currently being infringed”. There is evidence that videos are being published on X accompanied by music from these members.
Suisa Digital has decided to bring an action before the Munich I Regional Court because the Vaduz-based company represents the copyrights for uses not only in Switzerland and Liechtenstein, but also for uses throughout Europe. The markets in Switzerland and Liechtenstein are too small for a lawsuit to be successful here. Moreover, in a small market such as Liechtenstein, there would be a risk that Twitter International would simply discontinue its service. This scenario is “extremely unlikely” in the case of a lawsuit in Germany, which is much larger, writes Suisa Digital.
Compensation still outstanding
It remains to be seen how much compensation is ultimately at stake in the lawsuit. Suisa Digital writes that it currently “unfortunately lacks the necessary information”. The company is demanding that Twitter International “fully and completely disclose” X’s turnover and streaming figures. Only with these figures can the compensation that Twitter International must pay for the use of the music to those that Suisa Digital represents be calculated.
The music exploitation organization Suisa Digital is a subsidiary of Suisa in Switzerland. It represents the online music rights of Suisa and other companies and music publishers worldwide. Its repertoire comprises over 80,000 music creators, publishers and around ten million works. The organization has concluded licensing agreements for the use of digital music with over 80 providers worldwide.
Suisa, on the other hand, is a non-profit cooperative of composers, lyricists and music publishers in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It represents over 40,000 members from all musical genres. In addition, the cooperative represents the music repertoire of two million music authors worldwide in Switzerland and Liechtenstein by granting licenses for the use of this world repertoire. Suisa has offices in Zurich, Lausanne and Lugano.
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