NMPA, Downtown, Ole, Peer, Others Sue Peloton For $150M In Song Infringement

The National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) has filed a lawsuit against exercise equipment and streaming giant Peloton on behalf of members Downtown Music Publishing, Pulse Music Publishing, ole, peermusic, Ultra Music and others.

The lawsuit alleges infringement of more than a thousand musical works and seeks damages of more than $150 million.

Music publishers Big Deal Music, Reservoir, Round Hill, TRO Essex Music Group, and The Royalty Network also joined the lawsuit.

While the fitness technology company has licensed with some of the music publishing industry, it has failed to do so with a significant number of publishers, leaving a great deal of income lost to songwriters. The infringements allegedly began in 2014.

Peloton has released thousands of videos that allegedly include unlicensed music recorded by artists such as Rihanna, Bruno Mars, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Justin Timberlake, Shawn Mendes, Ed Sheeran, Wiz Khalifa, Thomas Rhett, Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, Florida Georgia Line, Drake, Gwen Stefani and many more.

Paleton's subscription service offers more than 13,000 workouts and the company was recently valued at $4 billion.

NMPA President & CEO David Israelite said in a statement:

"Music is a core part of the Peloton business model and is responsible for much of the brand’s swift success. Thousands of exclusive videos and playlists are a major reason hundreds of thousands of people have purchased Peloton products.
 
Unfortunately, instead of recognizing the integral role of songwriters to its company, Peloton has built its business by using their work without their permission or fair compensation for years.
 
It is frankly unimaginable that a company of this size and sophistication would think it could exploit music in this way without the proper licenses for this long, and we look forward to getting music creators what they deserve.”