X Corp and music publishers dismiss lawsuits

A major legal battle between Elon Musk's X Corp. and a coalition of the world's largest music publishers has ended with both sides agreeing to permanently drop their lawsuits. The coordinated dismissals, filed in federal courts on July 16, 2026, conclude a three-year dispute over the use of copyrighted music on the social media platform.

The publishers, including units of Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, and Warner Music Group, had sued X in 2023, when the platform was still known as Twitter. Their lawsuit, filed in Nashville, Tennessee, sought more than $250 million in damages, alleging that X allowed users to infringe nearly 1,700 copyrighted songs by artists like Taylor Swift and Beyoncé. The publishers argued that X was the only major social media platform refusing to enter a blanket licensing agreement for music, while competitors like TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube had done so.

In March 2024, U.S. District Judge Aleta Trauger dismissed the bulk of the publishers' claims, including allegations of direct and vicarious infringement. However, she allowed a narrower claim of contributory infringement to proceed. Settlement talks held in 2025 were unsuccessful,...