Court tosses conspiracy claims against majors in YouTube case

The lawsuit against the major labels, which claimed they had strategically delayed complaining over YouTube copyright claims to 'extort' larger payments later, has been thrown out of court.

Sony Music, Warner Music Group, Universal Music Group and Capitol Records were relieved of claims that they interfered with contractual rights and civil conspiracy, by US District Judge Roy Dalton Jr.

The dispute between the music companies and Arista Records and Amway Corporation stemmed from a partially settled copyright infringement case in ’98. As part of the settlement, Sony Music and WMG signed an agreement promising to notify Amway of any allegations of copyright infringement by an Amway distributor.

Then in 2014 Arista and Amway claimed the majors conspired to break promises “and to entrap people who uploaded videos with the Record Companies’ copyrighted sound recordings on to YouTube.” The suit filed last April said the music companies never brought any alleged copyright infringements to the attention of Amway during the last 14 years.

The trial court tossed most of the plaintiffs' claims on Saturday, but allowed Arista and Amway to file an amended complaint. A few minor changes were made to the complaint however it has remained largely the same. 

The labels still face a claim that they violated their “implied duty of good faith and fair dealing”.