music piracy Archives - GrayZone, Inc.

WMG and Crumbl Cookies Finalize Their Copyright Settlement

Warner Music Group and cookie chain Crumbl have settled a copyright infringement lawsuit stemming from Crumbl’s unauthorized use of music in social media marketing. This copyright settlement ends a long-standing battle that began in April 2025. More than 150 Recordings Illegally Used for Advertising WMG alleged Crumbl used at least 159 protected recordings — featuring […]

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Congress Considers Anti-Piracy Site-Blocking Bill

A recent Supreme Court ruling in Cox Communications v. Sony Music has upended copyright enforcement in the U.S. The court decided that internet service providers cannot be held liable for customers who pirate content unless they actively encourage it. The decision effectively closed a major legal avenue for rights holders. This decision is prompting a

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Anthropic’s Copyright Infringement of 20,000 Songs, UMG Sues

A coalition of major music publishers, led by Universal Music Publishing Group alongside Concord Music Group and ABKCO Music, has filed a sweeping second copyright lawsuit against AI giant Anthropic, seeking over $3 billion in statutory damages for the alleged infringement of more than 20,000 songs. The filing, submitted January 28 in the Northern District

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Anna’s Archive Sued for Data Scraping Copyright Infringement

Anna’s Archive, a decentralized piracy collective formerly known as the “Pirate Library Mirror,” made waves when it announced it had scraped roughly 86 million music files and metadata for 256 million tracks directly from Spotify. The open-source search engine described it as the largest publicly available music metadata database ever assembled. The group planned to

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Labels vs. Supreme Court After Pro-Cox Copyright Ruling

A major legal showdown is unfolding between Cox Communications and record labels led by Sony Music. The battle is over internet service provider liability for subscriber piracy and copyright infringement. Cox faces a $1 billion damage award from a Virginia court for allegedly failing to take adequate action against customers who repeatedly infringed copyrights. Cox’s

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Labels Celebrate Piracy Win but Want More From ISP

The ongoing legal battle between major record labels (Warner, Universal, and Sony) and internet service providers (ISPs) over their users’ music piracy and copyright infringement has reached a new phase. These continued court cases highlight the fight between copyright enforcement and unfettered internet access. Labels maintain the right to be compensated for blatant and widespread

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Sony Music Japan Takes Anime Music Piracy Site to Court

Music Piracy / July 4, 2024

Sony Music Japan and Bandai Namco Music Live are taking legal action against the popular anime music piracy website Hikari-no-Akari. On June 29, they filed for subpoenas in a US federal court, seeking to uncover the identities of those behind the site. Cloudflare Asked to Provide information on Alleged Copyright Infringers at Anime Music Site

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Court Tosses Much of X Copyright Lawsuit but Parts Remain

U.S. District Judge Aleta Trauger has allowed a copyright infringement lawsuit against X (formerly Twitter), brought by the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA), to proceed, after dismissing some of their claims. The judge ruled that the primary question is whether and to what extent the social media platform is liable for acts of copyright infringement

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Warner Music Group Leads Way In $1.6BN Music Piracy Lawsuit against Altice USA

Altice USA, a prominent internet service provider, faces a new lawsuit from music rightsholders alleging its complicity in widespread music piracy through its services. Copyright Lawsuit Filed by WMG and Sony Against Altice In a recent development, Warner Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment have filed a similar lawsuit in the US District Court against

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Twitter Sued for Copyright Infringement by Digital Music Licensing Group

Twitter, under its new brand name X, faces a copyright infringement lawsuit from Suisa Digital Licensing. The European music licensing organization alleges that the social media firm failed to compensate music authors and publishers whose works are used on its platform. Suisa Digital Licensing Sues X for Unauthorized Music Use In Wednesday’s statement, Suisa Digital

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