Music publishers take on Roblox and Twitch to defend copyright

A group of music publishers representing Ed Sheeran, Ariana Grande and the Rolling Stones has filed a lawsuit against video game platform Roblox for copyright infringement and further action against streaming service Twitch.

roblox “It has made millions of dollars, asking players to pay each time they stream music on the platform – taking advantage of a lack of understanding of how copyright works”in a statement released on Wednesday accused David Israel, president of the National Association of Music Publishers (NMPA). “And then they hardly take any precautions to prevent breaches or alert users to the risks they are taking”, he continues. NMPA seeks $200 million in damages “Shameless Exploitation of Music by Roblox Without Necessary Rights”.

“We are shocked and disappointed by these lawsuits that constitute a total misunderstanding of the workings of our Roblox platform”, the company responded, whose games and game creation applications are widely used by children. In a press release, it defended itself against any infringement, specifically mentioning the advanced technologies that make it possible “Detect and block unauthorized recordings”.

Twitch in NMPA’s viewfinder too

The NMPA is also attacking Twitch, the hugely popular live video game streaming platform owned by Amazon. The publisher intends to intensify their efforts to force the site to remove soundtracks used without permission. “Twitch users are penalized because the platform does not pay for music rights, and as long as it does, NMPA will continue to remove music that Amazon refuses to pay for.”. The forum did not immediately respond to AFP’s request.

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