X Files Antitrust Suit Against Music Publishers

X Corp, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, has filed an antitrust lawsuit against 18 music publishers and the National Music Publishers' Association, accusing them of colluding to pressure the company into buying industry-wide music licenses at inflated prices. The suit, lodged Friday in federal court in the Northern District of Texas, marks the latest escalation in a years-long dispute over music rights on the platform.

The complaint alleges that the defendants, which include major publishers such as Sony Music Publishing, Universal Music Publishing Group, and Warner Chappell Music, violated federal antitrust laws by refusing to negotiate individual licensing deals with X. Representing more than 90 percent of the U.S. market for musical compositions, the publishers allegedly coordinated through the NMPA to deny X competitive terms, forcing it to either accept blanket licenses covering the entire industry or risk ongoing legal action for hosting unlicensed content. Court documents claim this strategy prevents fair competition among publishers and harms X's operations, including the removal of thousands of user posts and the suspension of over 50,000 accounts...