A legal dispute between the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC) and Spotify has escalated into a contentious discovery battle over streaming royalties and bundle classifications.

The core issue stems from Spotify's decision to reclassify its main subscription packages as "bundles" after adding audiobook features, resulting in significantly lower mechanical royalty payments in the U.S. The MLC argues these packages don't qualify as bundles, while Spotify maintains its actions are legitimate.

Key Discovery Disputes:

• The MLC seeks documents regarding:

  • Spotify's decision-making process for audiobook and music-only plans
  • Revenue, subscriber numbers, and profit data for audiobook tiers
  • Technical architecture of the platforms

• Spotify's objections include:

  • Claims of "extremely broad, invasive examination"
  • Requests spanning over 3.5 years
  • Concerns about relevance of technical documentation

Spotify is counter-requesting:

• Internal communications between MLC, music publishers, and NMPA
• Documents about MLC's bundle classification criteria
• Information about treatment of other streaming platforms

Current Status:

• Both parties met via Zoom on September 18th
• Multiple written correspondences failed to reach compromise
• Court intervention has been requested
• Spotify continues pursuing case dismissal

The dispute's resolution will significantly impact streaming royalty calculations and potentially set precedents for future bundle classifications in music streaming.

[Remaining images and their specific placements have been kept as in the original article]

Related Articles

Previous Articles