Neil Young and Stevie Nicks Publisher Settles $1.6 Billion Spotify Lawsuit
Wixen Music Publishing -- the corporation that maintains the publishing rights of artists including Neil Young, Stevie Nicks, Tom Petty and the Doors -- said its $1.6 billion lawsuit against Spotify had been settled, and a new partnership had been forged between the businesses.
The suit was filed in December 2017, when Wixen accused the streaming service of using thousands of songs without license or compensation. While Spotify may have been paying for use of the recordings, they were not paying for use of the composed music and lyrics, which is an additional requirement, the publisher claimed.
“Spotify brazenly disregards United States Copyright law and has committed willful, ongoing copyright infringement," the complaint read.
In a joint statement, Wixen and Spotify announced the “final dismissal” of the case and said that the settlement was part of a “broader business partnership between the parties.”
“I want to thank Daniel Ek and Horacio Gutierrez, and the whole Spotify team, for working with the Wixen team, our attorneys and our clients to understand our issues, and for collaborating with us on a win-win resolution," Wixen president Randall Wixen, said.
"Spotify is a huge part of the future of music, and we look forward to bringing more great music from our clients to the public on terms that compensate songwriters and publishers as important partners. I am truly glad that we were able to come to a resolution without litigating the matter. Spotify listened to our concerns, collaborated with us to resolve them and demonstrated throughout that Spotify is a true partner to the songwriting community.”