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Title: Napster and Sonos Sued For Millions In Unpaid Music Royalties

Link: https://yro.slashdot.org/story/25/06/18/19212...

An anonymous reader quotes a report from TorrentFreak: Napster, the brand
synonymous with the music piracy boom of the early 2000s, has a new copyright
challenge. Together with audio giant Sonos, Napster faces a lawsuit demanding
over $3.4 million in alleged unpaid copyright royalties. Filed by collective
rights management organization SoundExchange, the complaint (PDF) centers on
missed payments related to the "Sonos Radio" service, which until 2023 was
powered by Napster's music catalog. [...] Sonos Radio launched in April 2020
with Napster as the authorized agent, submitting the required royalty reports
and royalties to SoundExchange. While all went well initially, payments
stopped around May 2022. At the time, Napster had been acquired by venture
capital firms Hivemind and Algorand, with a focus on "web3" technologies,
including cryptocurrencies and blockchain. According to the complaint, the
takeover resulted in a "complete breakdown of reporting and payment for the
Sonos Radio service." The alleged payment problems eventually came to light
during an audit initiated by SoundExchange in 2023, which concluded that
Sonos and Napster owed millions in unpaid royalties. Sonos and Napster are no
longer partners in the radio service, as the audio equipment manufacturer
switched to Deezer around April 2023. That appears to have solved the royalty
issues, but SoundExchange still believes it is owed more than $3 million. "In
total, Sonos, and its agent Napster, have failed to pay at least
$3,423,844.41 comprising royalties owed for the period October 2022 to April
2023, interest, late fees, and auditor fee-shifting costs, and subtracting
Sonos and Napster's payments made to date. "Late fees and interest continue
to grow," SoundExchange adds, while requesting compensation in full. The
complaint lists one count of "underpayment" of statutory royalties, and one
count of "non-payment" of royalties, as determined by the audit. For both
Copyright Act violations, SoundExchange requests damages of at least $3.4
million.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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