Published
Wed, Sep 4, 2013, 09:57
- The UK dance music empire claims the streaming service has refused to delete user playlists that mimic their compilations.
Ministry Of Sound is suing Spotify for refusing to delete user playlists that resemble their official compilations.
As The Guardian report, MOS claims the refusal constitutes a breach of copyright, with some of the playlists containing the words "Ministry Of Sound." The UK dance music company started proceedings in the UK High Court this week. It wants to remove all playlists that name or copy MOS compilations, and is seeking damages and costs. The case rests on whether the curatorial element of compilations is considered intellectual property.
"It's been incredibly frustrating: we think it's been very clear what we're arguing, but there has been a brick wall from Spotify," MOS chief executive Lohan Presencer told The Guardian. Presencer says his company have been pursuing Spotify since 2012. "What we do is a lot more than putting playlists together: a lot of research goes into creating our compilation albums, and the intellectual property involved in that. It's not appropriate for someone to just cut and paste them." Spotify has amassed 24 million users since 2008, and user playlists are a prominent feature of the site.