Music streaming company Spotify was sued by Wixen Music Publishing Inc last week for allegedly using thousands of songs, including those of Tom Petty, Neil Young and the Doors, without a license and compensation to the music publisher. Spotify failed to get a director a compulsory license from Wixen that would allow it to reproduce and distribute the songs, Wixen said in the lawsuit, filed in a California federal court. Wixen also alleged that Spotify outsourced its work to a third party, licensing and royalty services provider the Harry Fox Agency, which was “ill-equipped to obtain all the necessary mechanical licenses”. Spotify declined to comment. Spotify, which is planning a stock market listing this year, has grown around 20 per cent in value to at least $19 billion in the past few months.

Source: Pakistan Today January 02, 2018 21:45 UTC