X Platform Files 18 Music Publishers for Alleged Obstruction of Music Licenses

X sued the music publishers (doc. unsplash).

X Corp, Elon Musk's company, filed a lawsuit against 18 major music publishers and music industry associations in the United States (US) on Friday, January 9, 2026.

In the lawsuit, X accused the defendants of intentionally hindering competition. X also accused the National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) and companies such as Sony, Universal, and Warner of violating antitrust laws.

They are considered to have refused to negotiate licenses individually and forced X to accept industry-wide price terms at an unreasonable price. The lawsuit document notes that X's attempts to obtain music licenses were deliberately hindered.

This situation makes X the only major platform to be caught up in a prolonged licensing conflict. However, this lawsuit was denied by the association.

"X has been infringing copyrights for years. This groundless lawsuit is an dishonest attempt to divert attention," said David Israelite, CEO of the NMPA, launching from Reuters on Saturday, January 10, 2026.

The lawsuit also revealed that the publishers allegedly deliberately flooded the X platform with thousands of content removal notifications every week. This was done to pressure X to agree to the license terms they had set together.

The impact of this dispute, X was forced to delete thousands of uploads and suspend more than 50,000 user accounts. This moderation step is claimed to have harmed advertising revenue and the active user base.

Through the court in Texas, X wants to keep the competitive conditions in the US music licensing industry healthy. X also demands financial compensation for advertising losses suffered as a result of the actions of the music publishers.