Streaming giant Spotify has settled the $1.6 billion lawsuit which was brought by music publishers Wixen in December last year.
Wixen alleged that Spotify was using more than 10,000 songs without a proper licence by artists including Neil Young, Tom Petty, Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen, Stevie Nicks, The Doors, Weezer, Rage Against The Machine’s Zach de la Rocha and Tom Morello, Dan Auerbach and Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon.
The World Intellectual Property Review report that on Thursday, the publishing company informed the US District Court for the Central District of California that is was dismissing the action.
In a joint statement, Spotify and Wixen say: “The conclusion of that litigation is a part of a broader business partnership between the parties, which fairly and reasonably resolves the legal claims asserted by Wixen Music Publishing relating to past licensing of Wixen's catalogue and establishes a mutually-advantageous relationship for the future.”
The legal action was settled for an undisclosed amount.
In May last year, Spotify agreed to pay $43 million to settle a proposed class action from songwriters spearheaded by David Lowery and Melissa Ferrick. They alleged that Spotify had failed to adequately pay royalties for some songs on their service.
