Elon Musk's social media platform, X Corp, has filed a significant lawsuit against 18 prominent music publishers and the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA), alleging a widespread conspiracy to stifle competition and impose excessively high rates for musical works licensing. The lawsuit, lodged in a federal district court in Texas, specifically accuses the NMPA, alongside major entities such as Sony Music, Universal Music, and Warner Chappell, of contravening federal antitrust legislation by steadfastly refusing to engage in individual licensing negotiations with X.

According to the complaint, X Corp has been systematically denied the opportunity to secure a U.S. musical-composition license from any individual music publisher on competitive terms. The lawsuit highlights a unified effort by publishers, collectively representing more than 90% of U.S. copyrighted music, who allegedly conspired through the National Music Publishers’ Association to exert pressure on X. This alleged conspiracy aims to compel the platform into accepting broad, industrywide licensing agreements rather than allowing for competitive, individualized deals.

X Corp further contends that these publishers have inundated the platform with weekly takedown notices. These notices, targeting thousands of posts containing copyrighted music, including content from high-profile accounts, were purportedly designed to strong-arm X into compliance with their preferred industry terms. The platform asserts that this aggressive tactic has necessitated the removal of thousands of posts and the suspension of over 50,000 users, leading to significant damage to its user base and a direct negative impact on its advertising revenue.

In its filing, X Corp is petitioning the court to intervene and restore competitive conditions within the music licensing market. Furthermore, the company is seeking compensation for the advertising revenue it claims to have lost as a direct consequence of the publishers' alleged anti-competitive practices. This legal action follows a prior encounter in 2024, where X successfully achieved the dismissal of the majority of a 2023 lawsuit. That previous suit, brought by 17 music publishers including Sony and Universal, accused X of infringing copyrights on nearly 1,700 songs by facilitating the posting of music without explicit permission, with damages sought exceeding $250 million. Interestingly, X's latest lawsuit also notes that some of the publishers involved in the previous action had indicated a willingness to negotiate settlements on individual terms.