Spotify sued by Ministry of Sound over compilation album/playlist similarities
Spotify is on the receiving end of a lawsuit from dance brand Ministry of Sound over allegations that it infringed its compilation album copyrights by hosting playlists which mirrored their content.
Legal action followed a refusal by the music streaming service to delete users playlists which mimicked such albums, prompting the commencement of legal proceedings at the UK High Court.
Ministry of Sound chief executive Lohan Presencer said that he had been making such requests since 2012, adding: “It's been incredibly frustrating: we think it's been very clear what we're arguing, but there has been a brick wall from Spotify.”
Ambiguities exist on whether a compilation album qualifies for copyright protection however as Spotify has the rights to stream all the tracks individually.
Presencer argues however: “What we do is a lot more than putting playlists together: a lot of research goes into creating our compilation albums, and the intellectual property involved in that. It's not appropriate for someone to just cut and paste them.
“Everyone is talking about curation, but curation has been the cornerstone of our business for the last 20 years. If we don't step up and take some action against a service and users that are dismissing our curation skills as just a list, that opens up the floodgates to anybody who wants to copy what a curator is doing."