Sony Music has sued Triller Inc. for alleged copyright infringement, saying the TikTok rival refused to pay thousands and thousands for licensing songs like Doja Cat’s “Say So” and Lil Nas X’s “Outdated City Street.”
New York-based Sony has had a licensing cope with Triller since 2016, however since renewing a contract in December 2020, Triller hasn’t paid up in latest months, Sony mentioned in its criticism.
Triller, which operates a music video app and is predicated in Century Metropolis, owes thousands and thousands of {dollars}, together with curiosity, Sony mentioned in its lawsuit filed in New York federal courtroom Monday.
In a press release, Triller mentioned that the Sony catalog has been faraway from the app and that it has sought to take down any songs uploaded by customers inside 24 hours.
“The case is about lower than 100 songs and whether or not or not we complied with … take-down requests on customers importing these songs, which we consider we now have,” Triller mentioned.
The litigation is the most recent of Triller’s authorized woes. The app operators have had disputes with different music homeowners and claims of nonpayment by different events.
Final 12 months, Common Music Group pulled its music from Triller after it did not comply with phrases for the usage of its content material.
“Triller has shamefully withheld funds owed to our artists and refuses to barter a license going ahead,” Common mentioned in February 2021. Triller mentioned its settlement with UMG expired every week prior and that it had not withheld funds from artists.
And final month, the co-creators of the music platform Verzuz sued Triller in Los Angeles claiming breach of contract, alleging they had been owed $28 million. Swizz Beatz (a.ok.a. Kasseem Daoud Dean) and Timbaland (a.ok.a. Timothy Z. Mosley) offered Verzuz to Triller final 12 months and mentioned of their criticism Triller defaulted on funds.
Triller disputed the declare, saying it had paid greater than $50 million in money and inventory, and that the fallout was over one other settlement that Verzuz had not but met, the corporate instructed TMZ.
There have been different experiences of alleged nonpayment by Triller to creators.
Earlier this 12 months, some Black creators on Triller mentioned they hadn’t been paid for the content material they posted on the app, the Washington Submit reported. Triller disputed the report, saying it had met the monetary commitments .
Final fall Triller introduced plans to award one-year contracts to 300 main Black social media creators, promising earnings of $4,000 a month in charges and firm inventory. The corporate mentioned its program was price $14 million.