PUBLISHERS' SUIT AIMS TO PUT BRAKES ON PELOTON

Music publishers are spinning mad over Peloton using thousands of musical works and have filed a lawsuit seeking damages of more than $150m.

Downtown Music Publishing, Pulse, ole, peermusic, Ultra Music, Big Deal Music, Reservoir, Round Hill, TRO Essex Music Group and The Royalty Network assert that the fitness technology company has failed to license works from a significant number of publishers. The company makes thousands of exclusive videos and playlists for their stationary bicycles.

National Music Publishers’ Association President & CEO David Israelite said, “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.”

The company launched at-home streaming in 2014 and offers a subscription service with more than 13,000 workouts, the NMPA states. Peloton’s videos include music from Rihanna, Bruno Mars, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry and other stars that the NMPA contends are unlicensed.

“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,” Israelite noted.

Downtown's General Counsel, Peter Rosenthal, said the company is hoping for a settlement. “We prefer to avoid litigation. But where we see the willful and ongoing infringement of so many works over a period of years, we will act to vigilantly enforce our songwriters’ valuable copyrights.”