A lawsuit has been filed against Spotify in Flordia seeking damages for alleged copyright infringement and unfair competition.
Sosa Entertainment and its sister company, collection society Pro Music Rights, claim that Spotify has not paid royalties on more than 550,000,000 music streams.
Part of the dispute relates to Spotify’s removal of the Sosa catalogue from the service. In the lawsuit, the hip-hop label claims the move also exerted pressure on Merlin to exclude Sosa/Pro from its Spotify equity windfall.
Sosa further claimed that some of its repertoire continues to appear in Spotify-generated playlists.
“Spotify's treatment of plaintiffs was clearly unfair, as it singled plaintiffs out for disparate treatment and Spotify had an anti-competitive motive to do so,” stated the lawsuit.
Jake Noch, founder and CEO of Pro Music Rights, confirmed in a press statement that it is seeking more than $1bn (£777m) in damages.
Pro Music Rights represents more than 2m works including songs featuring Snoop Dogg, Wiz Khalifa, Pharrell and Young Jeezy.
Spotify declined to comment.
