The National Music Publishers Association. has filed a copyright infringement suit against Fullscreen Inc., a multi-channel network (MCN) operating on YouTube and largely comprised of independent artists playing cover songs allegedly without proper licensing or paying royalties.
Fullscreen declined to comment on the lawsuit.
"The problem of copyright infringement is endemic to the MCN industry,” David Israelite, NMPA president and CEO, said in a statement. “Fullscreen’s success and growth as a digital business is attributable in large part to the prevalence and popularity of its unlicensed music videos. We must stop the trend of ignoring the law, profiting from someone else’s work, then asking forgiveness when caught. It is not only unfair, it is unacceptable.”