The battle between Spotify and Warner Music Group’s Warner/Chappell Music publishing arm continues unabated, after the pair failed to reach an agreement to licence songs to the streamer in India. A Mumbai judge today failed to grant WMG an injunction stopping Spotify from launching in India, but it did also did not grant it a licence to launch, according to WMG.
“We welcome the Court’s decision to direct Spotify to deposit monies with the Court and to maintain complete records of any use of our music as well as all advertising and subscription revenue earned by Spotify,” WMG said in a statement. “These are positive steps to protect our songwriters’ interests.”
But casting doubt on whether or not Spotify can legally launch immediately using blanket licences usually reserved for TV and radio, WMG added, “We’re also pleased that Spotify cannot pursue proceedings for their claim to a statutory license before the Intellectual Property Appellate Board for a period of 4 weeks. Our copyright infringement case will continue on an expedited basis.”
And ratcheting up the rhetoric, WMG concluded: “Spotify’s comments yesterday about our fair market negotiations were appalling to us, and we’re shocked that they would exploit the valuable rights of songwriters without a license. That said, we remain optimistic that we can reach a strong, balanced commercial agreement.”
More on Spotify’s side of this developing sorry and analysis here.
MORE: Court Denies WMG Injunction, Clears Spotify India Launch