Musk's X, major labels end dispute over music on social-media platform

Elon Musk's X Corp, formerly known as Twitter, has reached an agreement with a consortium of major music publishers to end a legal battle over the use of copyrighted music on the social media platform. Federal court filings revealed that Universal Music Group and Sony Music were among the publishers involved in the dispute.

The publishers had sued X in a Tennessee federal court in 2023, alleging that the platform infringed on hundreds of copyrights by enabling users to share songs without proper licensing. They sought over $250 million in damages for the alleged infringement of nearly 1,700 copyrights, claiming X "routinely ignores" user copyright violations while platforms like TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube properly license music.

X had countersued the publishers in a Texas federal court in January. The social media company accused the music labels of violating federal antitrust laws by allegedly conspiring to block competition and forcing X to license their songs at inflated prices. X had previously seen a significant portion of the initial lawsuit dismissed in 2024, with a judge ruling that X could not be held liable for direct or vicarious copyright infringement, though a contributory infringement claim was allowed to proceed.

Both X Corp and the music labels have requested that the courts dismiss the claims with prejudice, meaning the lawsuits cannot be refiled. Spokespeople for X Corp and the music publishers did not immediately comment on the settlement or provide further details. The resolution of this dispute marks a significant development in the ongoing efforts by social media platforms to navigate music licensing complexities.