Universal Music Group has filed a federal lawsuit against DistroKid in the US.
UMG is suing the distributor in the US district court for the district of Delaware for “deceptive trade practices and copyright infringement”.
In the lawsuit, UMG and its Capitol Records and Capitol Christian Music Group operations claim that DistroKid is building an “AI slop pipeline”. It coincides with the latest IFPI initiative on streaming fraud.
Distrokid was a signatory to the Music Fights Fraud Alliance campaign in 2023. However, UMG’s legal claim states that the distributor gives the false impression that it distributes music that consists of artist-backed releases, created and owned by real human artists, as well as taking a stance against copyright infringement and manipulative tactics that crowd out human creators.
“DistroKid is flooding platforms with AI-generated ‘slop’ that siphons revenue and listeners from the legitimate artists and rights-holders,” stated UMG’s lawsuit. “DistroKid likewise proliferates infringing tracks across platforms, and continues that distribution even when it knows the tracks infringe Plaintiffs’ (or others’) rights.”
The major’s legal claim further criticises the “egregious” decision by DistroKid to continue distributing such content.
“Continuing to distribute these infringing tracks allows DistroKid to collect ill-gotten revenues that should have gone to Plaintiffs and other legitimate rights-holders,” stated UMG’s lawsuit.
UMG is asking for statutory damages, as well as an injunction on any infringing material and to prevent DistroKid from creating the "false impression that the majority of the sound recordings it distributes are artist-backed releases", in addition to legal costs.
In a statement, DistroKid said: "DistroKid is proud to amplify millions of independent artists from around the world and help them bring their music to audiences everywhere. We take copyright protection, fraud prevention and the integrity of the music ecosystem seriously, and work closely with digital streaming platforms, rights-holders and other industry partners on these efforts. Our distribution process includes sophisticated protections that we continuously invest in to stay at the forefront of these efforts. These are shared industry challenges, particularly as technology and the ways music is created and distributed continue to evolve.
"We strongly disagree with UMG’s allegations and are disappointed that it chose litigation rather than established industry processes to address these issues. We are confident in our practices and intend to defend DistroKid vigorously."
FOLLOW 
