NMPA sues Roblox for exploiting music without licenses

By Emmanuel Legrand

Gaming platforms have become the latest targets of the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA). 

  During the organisation's virtual 2021 Annual Meeting, NMPA President & CEO David Israelite (pictured, below) used his traditional State of the Industry speech to announce that the NMPA, alongside a significant number of music publishers, have sued gaming platform Roblox, asking for $200 million in damages for letting unlicensed music flow on the service. 

  In addition, Israelite said the NMPA has decided to ramp up its takedown campaign against Amazon-owned Twitch. "With the complaint that we are filing, we are sending a clear message to both Roblox and to the video gaming industry at large that you cannot build a company on the backs of music creators, refuse to pay them, profit off of users naivety and money, and get away with it," said Israelite.

Crack down on unlicensed platforms

  Israelite said the gaming industry is bigger than the film and the sports industries combined in the US, and that "music is an essential part of the gaming experience." 

  "We value our partnership with legitimate gaming companies that respect music but it is time to crack down on those that don't," he explained.

  Platforms such as Roblox and Twitch, which have millions of users, allow "rampant copyright infringement" and "hide" behind DMCA's safe harbour provisions to avoid licensing music, while offering countless songs to enhance the gaming experience. 

Enticing children to commit piracy

  "It is time to crack down on those that don't license music," said Israelite. "The games industry cannot build a business on back of creators and get away with it."

  In the case of Roblox, which has a market capitalisation of about $52 billion, users can create their own games and tap into a library of songs that Roblox provides, including copyrighted commercial music represented by many NMPA members. 

  Israelite said what made it even more reprehensible was that the platform enticed children to unknowingly commit acts of piracy without protecting them by fully licensing its platform. "Roblox has refused to license," said Israelite.

No action to prevent repeat infringement

  “They’ve made hundreds of millions of dollars by requiring users to pay every time they upload music onto the platform – taking advantage of young people’s lack of understanding about copyright – and then they take virtually no action to prevent repeat infringement or alert users to the risks they are taking," said Israelite. "Roblox, thus far, has been defiant. Not only have they refused so far to pay for the songs that are on their platform, but they are trying to hide behind a misinterpretation of the DMCA to avoid liability."

  The suit against Roblox was filed in the US District Court of the Central District of California Western Division by the NMPA, on behalf of publisher plaintiffs including ABKCO Music & Records, Big Machine Records, Concord Music Group with Pulse Music Group, deadmau5 (Joel Zimmerman), Downtown Music Publishing, Hipgnosis Songs, Kobalt Music Group, MPL Music Publishing, peermusic, Reservoir Media Management, Spirit Music Group, and Universal Music Publishing Group. It is worth noting that neither Warner Music Group's Warner Chappell, nor Sony Music Publishing are party to the lawsuit.

  The NMPA is seeking damages in the amount of no less than $200 million for Roblox’s "unabashed exploitation of music without proper licenses."

Copyright infringement on a massive scale.

  The suit reads: "Roblox has built that value on the backs of unpaid music creators, flagrantly disregarding its responsibilities under copyright law and systematically committing, encouraging, and inducing the infringement of copyrighted musical works on a massive scale, which infringement Roblox monetizes for substantial profits."

  Plaintiffs consider that Roblox "engages in copyright infringement on a massive scale by deliberately creating a centralised synchronisation (or “sync”) library of unlicensed songs to be distributed, streamed, publicly performed, and incorporated into game content. In creating this library, Roblox reproduces each song included therein, charging users to upload music to be incorporated into their games."

  "The lawsuit will ensure songwriters are fully paid for their works on the platform and that Roblox takes seriously its obligations to those who have made its service so popular and profitable," said the company is a statement. 

Roblox surprised and disappointed

  Roblox challenged the case made by the NMPA. In a statement, the company said it was "surprised and disappointed by this lawsuit which represents a fundamental misunderstanding of how the Roblox platform operates, and will defend Roblox vigorously as we work to achieve a fair resolution."

  It added: "We do not tolerate copyright infringement, which is why we use industry-leading, advanced filtering technology to detect and prohibit unauthorized recordings. We expeditiously respond to any valid Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) request by removing any infringing content and, in accordance with our stringent repeat infringer policy, taking action against anyone violating our rules."

  It concluded: "We believe the Roblox metaverse provides a massive opportunity for the music industry, and have partnered with major labels and publishers to host successful music events, attended by millions of fans, for such artists as Ava Max, Lil Nas X, Why Don’t We, Royal Blood, and Zara Larsson. We are committed to continuing to partner with the music industry to unlock new, creative, and commercial opportunities for artists and songwriters through virtual merchandise, exclusive virtual concerts, Launch Parties, and more."

Remove unauthorised songs on Twitch

  In the case of Twitch, which is owned by Amazon, the strategy is different. Rather than suing for copyright infringement, the NMPA will launch "an intensive programme to identify and remove unauthorised songs on Twitch."

  Israelite said that while music is "a key part of the videos uploaded" by users, and has been "essential in driving its growth," but Twitch has so far "refused to license music properly from publishers and songwriters," and has been hiding behind DMCA safe harbour provisions.

  He added that the NMPA will continue to ask for music to be removed from the platform until Amazon ends up licensing music. “Twitch should serve its users by fully licensing music which would allow the platform to flourish and copyright owners to be properly compensated,” he said, adding: "We are just getting started."