International Music Rights (GMR) has settled its copyright infringement lawsuit in opposition to Music Alternative.
The case was dismissed with prejudice on Friday (August 7), in line with a joint stipulation filed within the US District Court docket for the Central District of California, which you’ll be able to learn right here.
It closes the dispute two months after GMR sued the music service over the alleged unauthorized efficiency of 95 songs.
The four-page submitting states that “the Events have entered right into a settlement settlement to get rid of this motion in its entirety.”
The motion was dismissed “with prejudice in its entirety, with every social gathering bearing its personal attorneys’ charges, prices, and bills,” barring GMR from bringing the identical claims once more.
Neither the monetary phrases of the settlement nor any licensing association between the 2 firms is disclosed within the doc, which was signed by counsel for either side on August 7.
The court docket had twice authorized extensions to Music Alternative‘s deadline to reply to the grievance, first to July 27 after which to August 10, the stipulation notes.
The stipulation was filed three days earlier than that second deadline expired, and no response to the grievance seems on the docket.
GMR filed the grievance on June 8, alleging that Music Alternative continued performing songs from its catalog after the businesses’ license settlement lapsed on December 31, 2025.
The PRO sought most statutory damages of USD $150,000 for every of the 95 compositions, a ceiling of roughly USD $14.25 million, plus a everlasting injunction, attorneys’ charges and prices.
Works named in an exhibit to the grievance included Bruce Springsteen‘s Born to Run and Dancing within the Darkish, plus Dangerous Man and What Was I Made For? by Billie Eilish and Finneas, as MBW reported on the time.
The grievance described the alleged infringement as “willful, intentional, purposeful, and in disregard of and detached to the rights of International Music Rights.”
“Music Alternative made the strategic choice to not pay International Music Rights for these makes use of and hoped to get away with it,” it learn.
“However Music Alternative didn’t get away with it. Music Alternative has been caught pink handed.”
Saying the swimsuit in June, GMR Basic Counsel Emio Zizza stated: “We solely flip to litigation as a final resort. However it’s well-established legislation that our shoppers’ copyrighted works can’t be publicly carried out and not using a license.”
Added Zizza: “The various, many providers which have entered right into a GMR license and are paying their charges deserve the good thing about that license.
“Companies that don’t need to pay for a GMR license don’t get to make use of our catalog and deprive our shoppers of their due.”
Music Alternative is the goal of the fifth infringement case GMR has filed in federal court docket since October 2022.
Not a type of 4 earlier circumstances reached trial, and each one of many actions sought the identical statutory most of USD $150,000 per work.
That determine is the ceiling set by US copyright legislation for willful infringement, and a rightsholder claiming statutory damages doesn’t need to display what it really misplaced.
In October 2022, GMR filed three circumstances on the identical foundation: in opposition to Purple Wolf Broadcasting, in opposition to One Putt Broadcasting, and in opposition to Southern Stone Communications and Black Crow Media Group collectively.
It settled with Purple Wolf and One Putt on January 20, 2023, with each firms coming into long-term licenses on undisclosed phrases.
“We’re devoted to defending the rights of GMR songwriters and composers, and making certain entities publicly performing their works are appropriately licensed,” Zizza stated of that settlement.
“By way of this lawsuit, we’ve achieved these endeavors, and stay up for our go-forward licensing relationship with Purple Wolf.”
GMR then sued Vermont Broadcast Associates in January 2024 over 66 songs, and settled three months in a while phrases that once more included a long-term GMR license and a decision of previous alleged infringements.
The Music Alternative stipulation doesn’t say whether or not that sample held a fifth time.
Music Alternative relies in Horsham, Pennsylvania, and has operated within the music business for near 4 many years, in line with GMR‘s grievance.
The corporate says it has been a staple within the residence for greater than 35 years, rising out of cable tv into what it calls “a multi-platform expertise constructed for the way individuals hear right now.”
Its channels include most cable packages, and Music Alternative additionally sells a standalone subscription for cell gadgets and choose sensible TVs.
A separate arm, Music Alternative for Enterprise, provides music to business premises.
The corporate is owned by a consortium that features Sony Company of America, Constitution Communications, Comcast Company, Cox Communications and Microsoft, in line with the grievance.
Music Alternative‘s enterprise institution service has attracted litigation earlier than.
SoundExchange sued Music Alternative in April 2019, alleging that an audit had discovered the corporate underreporting the gross proceeds on which its statutory sound recording royalties had been calculated.
A federal choose referred that dispute to the Copyright Royalty Board in December 2021, discovering the Board higher positioned to interpret its personal fee regulation.
The lawyer who acted for Music Alternative in that protection turns up once more within the GMR stipulation.
Music Alternative was represented within the GMR case by Kelly Perigoe of King & Spalding in Los Angeles, and by Paul Fakler, a companion within the agency’s New York workplace, listed within the submitting along with his professional hac vice software nonetheless to return.
King & Spalding says Fakler acted for Music Alternative within the SoundExchange litigation.
The agency says he has additionally dealt with Music Alternative‘s Preexisting Subscription Service fee case earlier than the Copyright Royalty Board, together with “each prior fee continuing for Music Alternative for the reason that creation of the CRB.”
Fakler‘s shoppers have included Sirius XM, Pandora and Google, and he joined King & Spalding from Mayer Brown in January 2026.
Appearing for GMR had been Daniel Petrocelli and David Marroso of O’Melveny & Myers.
Petrocelli has been GMR‘s lead counsel since its December 2016 antitrust countersuit in opposition to the Radio Music License Committee, and O’Melveny has acted on the PRO’s infringement fits ever since.
GMR was based in 2013 by Irving Azoff and Randy Grimmett, and represents simply over 175 songwriters and their publishers, in line with its grievance.
It’s one in every of 4 PROs working within the United States, alongside ASCAP, BMI and SESAC.
MBW revealed in September 2024 that GMR had struck a take care of non-public fairness agency Hellman & Friedman valuing the corporate at USD $3.3 billion.
Jeff Toig was promoted from Chief Enterprise Officer to CEO in January 2026, with Grimmett shifting as much as Govt Chairman.
Enforcement throughout the broader PRO sector has been lively this yr: ASCAP introduced infringement fits in opposition to 4 US radio teams on June 9, the day after GMR sued Music Alternative.Music Enterprise Worldwide
