Roblox' steady stream of hot water continues to flow, gaining pace as a boiling hot tidal wave has now hit the gaming platform's owners for allegedly using unauthorized music.
NMPA Sues Roblox for $200 Million
The National Music Publishers' Association (NMPA) has—according to an NMPA press release—filed a lawsuit against Roblox to the tune of $200 million in damages, citing misappropriation of music on the Roblox platform.
David Israelite—NMPA President and CEO—announced the lawsuit at the 2021 annual trade group meeting, detailed in the press release. Allegedly, he has accused Roblox players and game creators of broadcasting unlicensed music without properly crediting the original artist.
What Does the Lawsuit Say?
Israelite doesn't sound too happy about this copyright infringement, even going so far as to say Roblox' owners and overseers are financially exploiting young people in the process. According to the press release, he said Roblox makes:
... hundreds of millions of dollars by requiring users to pay every time they upload music onto the platform — taking advantage of young people’s lack of understanding about copyright — and then they take virtually no action to prevent repeat infringement or alert users to the risks they are taking...
So, rather than lumping the blame with Roblox users, many of whom are young and therefore lack experience when it comes to copyright laws, Israelite is going straight for the jugular; the platform owners themselves...
Citing the enormous size of its user base—over 42 million active daily—he detailed the lengths Roblox has gone to avoid paying music creators who are a huge driver of its growth, as well as Roblox’s enticement of children to unknowingly commit acts of piracy without protecting them by fully licensing its platform.
So, it would appear the issue is with Roblox' lack of a music license, which means it shouldn't be allowing its users to broadcast music bound by copyright.
The lawsuit names some artists and other industry brands who are reportedly seeking damages. These include:
... ABKCO Music & Records, Big Machine Records, Concord Music Group with Pulse Music Group, deadmau5 (Joel Zimmerman), Downtown Music Publishing, Hipgnosis, Kobalt Music Group, MPL Music Publishing, peermusic, Reservoir Media Management, Spirit Music Group, and UMPG...
Apparently the total sum of damages amounts to no less than $200 million, but this means it is likely to be more if the case makes it to court.
Do You Play Roblox?
If so, the chances are you've heard some music that the game designer or another player shouldn't have been playing. If you broadcast music on your Roblox game, then you should always be careful and make sure you can legally play it.