UMG's lawsuit against Believe moves forward

Photo Credit: Universal Music Group

UMG’s $500 million lawsuit against Believe gets ready to move ahead with a pretrial conference set for January.

Universal Music Group’s massive $500 million copyright infringement lawsuit against Believe and TuneCore over “rampant piracy” is moving forward, with a pretrial conference set for January 8. The conference will be held in person in a New York courtroom.

“Counsel are directed to confer with each other prior to the conference regarding settlement and each of the other subjects to be considered,” the filing reads. “The parties are hereby ordered to file […] a joint letter, as well as a proposed Civil Case Management Plan and Scheduling Order […] no later than January 2.”

The pretrial conference follows Believe’s vow to fight the lawsuit in court. Universal alleges Believe and its TuneCore distributor failed to vet third parties’ infringing works and distributed them to DSPs like YouTube, wrongfully collecting their royalties in the process. The infringed works include those from Post Malone, Kendrick Lamar, Lady Gaga, and many more.

Attorneys for UMG argue that Believe has caused substantial harm to their client’s business, artists, and other contributors. They seek damages of at least $500 million, as well as a permanent injunction to stop Believe from infringing further.

UMG’s complaint outlines Believe’s practice of wrongfully collecting royalties and cites several examples of infringement, which include “sped up” or “remixed” versions of popular songs. Further, Believe is accused of exploiting YouTube’s content management system to claim ownership of recordings and thereby diverting royalty payments.

“Believe is well aware that such tracks are popular on certain digital services and more likely to evade the checks that digital music services use to detect infringing material on their platforms,” says UMG.

Believe and TuneCore responded to media requests for comment by simply stating they “do not comment on pending litigation.” A Believe spokesperson told Digital Music News, “As companies that work with artists and labels around the world, we take the respect of copyright very seriously. We strongly refute these claims, and the statements made by Universal Music Group, and will fight them.”