Elon Musk’s X has launched a sweeping antitrust lawsuit against major music publishers and industry bodies, accusing them of working together to force the platform into expensive, industrywide licensing deals.
Filed on January 9th in the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas, the 53 page complaint names the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) alongside publishers including Sony Music Publishing, Universal Music Corp., Warner Chappell Music, BMG, Kobalt, Concord, Hipgnosis Songs Group, and Downtown Music Publishing.
At the centre of X’s claim is an allegation that the NMPA coordinated a mass campaign of DMCA takedown notices designed to pressure the platform into licensing music at what X describes as “supracompetitive rates”.
According to the filing, more than 200,000 posts were targeted in the first year alone, with nearly 500,000 posts flagged since major publishers joined the effort in 2023.
X argues the takedown campaign was not about copyright protection, but leverage, the lawsuit claims the goal was to force X into collective negotiations rather than allowing publishers to compete independently for licensing agreements.
The complaint points to an alleged October 2021 email from NMPA President and CEO David Israelite, sent on behalf of “all music publishers”. According to X, Israelite warned of a coming “massive program” of takedown notices “on a scale larger than any previous effort in DMCA history”, while suggesting X could avoid the campaign if it agreed to develop a licensing partnership.
X alleges the strategy mirrors similar enforcement actions against platforms like Twitch and Roblox, both of which ultimately entered licensing agreements with publishers. Ironically, those successful deals are cited by X as evidence of what it calls an “extortionate scheme”.
Music publishers see it very differently
Responding to the lawsuit, Israelite said: “X/Twitter is the only major social media company that does not license the songs on its platform.”
He added: “We allege that X has engaged in copyright infringement for years, and its meritless lawsuit is a bad faith effort to distract from publishers’ and songwriters’ legitimate right to enforce against X’s illegal use of their songs.”
X’s lawsuit brings claims under Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act, alleging restraint of trade, conspiracy to monopolise, and attempted monopolisation.
The company is seeking a permanent injunction, treble damages, punitive damages, and legal costs.
This legal escalation comes after copyright negotiations between X and publishers were reportedly making progress in late 2025, the filing now suggests that fragile truce has collapsed, setting the stage for a major courtroom battle between Silicon Valley and the music industry.
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