UMG Sues Believe and TuneCore Over Alleged ‘Massive’ Copyright Infringement of Rihanna, Ariana Grande & More Recordings

Along with ABKCO and Concord, the music giant accuses TuneCore and its parent Believe of willfully infringing their copyrights to grow its business in a $500 million complaint.

Universal Music Group (UMG), along with ABKCO Music & Records, and Concord Music Group, filed a major copyright infringement lawsuit against Believe and its subsidiary TuneCore on Monday (November 4), seeking damages of at least USD $500 million.

The complaint, which you can read in full here, was filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York and focuses in part on the dissemination of so-called ‘manipulated’ audio.

It alleges that Believe has built its business through “industrial-scale copyright infringement” of “the world’s most popular copyrighted recordings.”

Universal Music Group, ABKCO and Concord claim that Believe has achieved significant growth by acting as a hub for distributing unauthorized copies of copyrighted recordings to major platforms including TikTok, YouTube, Spotify, Apple Music and Instagram.

UMG et al allege: “Often, Believe distributes overtly infringing versions of original tracks by famous artists with notations that they are ‘sped up’ or ‘remixed’.”

A spokesperson for UMG said of the lawsuit: “Believe is a company built on industrial-scale copyright infringement. Their illegal practices are not limited to cheating artists on major labels but artists on independent labels as well—including artists on the independent labels within the trade bodies of which Believe is itself a member.”

The lawsuit highlights multiple examples of alleged infringement (see Exhibit A and Exhibit B here).

These examples include tracks uploaded by “artists” using slightly misspelled versions of famous names such as “Kendrik Laamar,” “Arriana Gramde,” “Jutin Biber,” and “Llady Gaga.”

Many of the unauthorized tracks are described as “sped up” or “remixed” versions of original recordings by artists including ABBA, Ariana Grande, Beastie Boys, Bon Jovi, Daddy Yankee, Diana Ross, Drake, Elton John, Fall Out Boy, Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Kendrick Lamar, Lady Gaga, Nirvana, and the Rolling Stones.

“Believe is a company built on industrial-scale copyright infringement. Their illegal practices are not limited to cheating artists on major labels but artists on independent labels as well—including artists on the independent labels within the trade bodies of which Believe is itself a member.”

Universal Music Group

The complaint specifically charges Believe with direct copyright infringement, contributory copyright infringement, vicarious copyright infringement, direct infringement of pre-1972 sound recordings, contributory infringement of pre-1972 sound recordings and vicarious infringement of pre-1972 sound recordings.

Representatives for Believe and TuneCore did not immediately respond to Billboard‘s requests for comment.

It’s been a busy year for TuneCore’s parent company Believe. On March 1, the French music giant, which was publicly traded on the Euronext Paris stock exchange, announced that its board of directors had approved the move to take it private and that there was an “interested party” looking to acquire it. First, however, the bidder was requesting due diligence information and financial data ahead of making a formal bid. Later that month, the name of the bidder was revealed when it was announced that Warner Music Group (WMG) had issued a formal notice to disclose its interest in acquiring Believe, which also owns publishing administrator Sentric as well as labels like Naïve, Nuclear Blast and Groove Attack.

In early April, however, WMG called off its plans to submit a formal offer. The label did not elaborate on its decision, stating only that it was made “after careful consideration.” On April 19, Believe’s board of directors announced it was supporting an offer to take the company private at 15 euros ($15.98) per share from a consortium of funds managed by TCV, EQT X and Believe chairman/CEO Denis Ladegaillerie. The board’s three independent members unanimously voted in favor of an opinion that the bid was in the interest of minority shareholders.

Fraud and copyright infringement have been hot-button issues in the music business as the industry becomes more and more democratized, offering anyone the opportunity to release music in hours — sometimes minutes — at the click of a button. In response, TuneCore, along with CD Baby, Distrokid and other competitors, set up “Music Fights Fraud,” a coalition designed to stop bad actors from hopping from service-to-service to release songs they don’t own the rights to. A number of initiatives, including Credits Due, have since launched to try to fix metadata problems in the music business that can leave artists susceptible to royalty stealing and fraud, particularly on sites like YouTube.

Still, despite these efforts, TuneCore and other DIY distributors have been accused of allowing bad actors to use their sites to upload infringing or fraudulent content. In August 2020, Round Hill Music’s publishing arm sued TuneCore for “willful and unauthorized use” of 219 of their sound recordings. And in 2022, Billboard reported that some music executives believe Create Music Group games the system on YouTube to claim royalties, with one label source claiming the company was doing so “egregiously.”

Just last month, TikTok also rang the alarm bell about fraudulent content when it backed out of licensing negotiations with Merlin, a coalition of indie labels and distributors, to allegedly curb users uploading works they don’t own the rights to on the platform. TikTok said it would instead pursue individual licensing deals with labels and distributors that it considered to be safe.

Article from: Billboard - UMG Lawsuit Says TuneCore Infringed Music by Rihanna, Ariana Grande

Additionally, UMG et al. note that Believe has distributed “millions” of tracks — more than the combined catalog of major labels and legitimate independent labels — to DSPs.

The lawsuit claims: “While Believe is fully aware that its business model is fueled by rampant piracy, it has eschewed basic measures to prevent copyright violations and turned a blind eye to the fact that its music catalog was rife with copyright infringing sound recordings.”

The case partly focuses on YouTube’s Content ID system.

UMG and its co-plaintiffs accused Believe of manipulating this system “to claim ownership of the copyrights in the recordings embodied in the tracks it distributes and uses those systems to monetize uses of those recordings”.

Even after losing such disputes on YouTube, alleges UMG, Believe continues to distribute the same infringing tracks on other platforms like Spotify and Apple Music.

“It’s no wonder that Believe has been outspoken against the streaming reform principles for which so many major and independent labels have been advocating. Why? Because such reforms would undermine and expose their system of building scale and market presence by distributing music for which they have no rights and illegally collecting royalties to enrich themselves and their coconspirators,” the UMG spokesperson said.

The complaint cites unauthorized versions of hits like Aqua’s Barbie Girl; Taki Taki by DJ Snake ft. Selena Gomez, Ozuna and Cardi B; ABBA’s Lay All Your Love On Me; and Billie Eilish’s bad guy.

According to UMG, these tracks remained available on other platforms even after Believe acknowledged they had no rights to the content on YouTube.

“It’s no wonder that Believe has been outspoken against the streaming reform principles for which so many major and independent labels have been advocating. Why? Because such reforms would undermine and expose their system of building scale and market presence by distributing music for which they have no rights and illegally collecting royalties to enrich themselves and their coconspirators.”

Universal Music Group

“As the distributor of these tracks, Believe had specific knowledge of infringement or, at minimum, was actually aware of facts indicating a high likelihood of infringement, but continued to distribute and purport to license the same tracks to other services, continuing to violate Plaintiffs’ copyrights and to divert royalties that ought to have flowed to Plaintiffs,” the complaint reads.

The lawsuit emerges against the backdrop of concerns over unauthorized “modified” tracks, particularly on TikTok.

It follows UMG’s recent confrontation with ByteDance, involving 37,000 takedown requests affecting over 120 million TikTok videos earlier this year.

It also builds on a potential precedent from Sony Music’s case against an artist called Trefuego in April over his track, 90mh, which was based around a sped-up sample of the 1986 track Reflections by Japanese composer Hinata, which Sony represents.

At the time, Music Business Worldwide raised fundamental questions about distributor liability in the digital streaming age.

The Sony x Trefuego case notably targeted the individual artist rather than the distributor, DistroKid, although the distributor had to pay a $14,000 chunk of Trefuego’s $800,000 damages to Sony.

DistroKid’s ‘Distribution Agreement’ with artists reads: “You shall indemnify and hold harmless, and upon our request, defend DistroKid [from] all claims, suits, proceedings, disputes, controversies, losses, liabilities, damages, costs and expenses… resulting from… any claim that the Recordings, Materials, data or information provided or authorized by you… violates or infringes the rights of another party.”

Similarly, Believe and TuneCore’s ‘Terms and Conditions,’ effective since April 2021, also has an indemnification clause saying: “You agree to indemnify and hold harmless [Believe and TuneCore], subsidiaries, affiliates or any related companies… from any and all claims, losses, obligations, damages, liabilities, costs debt, and expenses… including claims that any of your User Content infringes or violates any third-party intellectual property rights.”

“[Believe and TuneCore] reserve the right, at your expense, to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter for which you are required to indemnify us, and you agree to cooperate with our defense of these claims.”

This isn’t the first time that TuneCore/Believe has been sued over copyright infringement.

In 2020, it was hit with a lawsuit by New York-based publisher Round Hill Music over the alleged reproduction and distribution of “musical compositions owned or controlled by Round Hill… despite knowing that [these] compositions were never properly licensed.”

Article From Music Business Worldwide: UMG sues Believe and TuneCore for $500 million, alleging ‘industrial-scale copyright infringement’ - Music Business Worldwide

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