Court Rulings Escalate Copyright Battles, Pandora Faces Royalty Challenge, and Anna’s Archive Risks Default Judgment - How The Music Business Works

How The Music Business Works - Issue #48

February 12, 2026

Welcome back to How The Music Business Works.

This week, the courts take center stage as copyright disputes intensify across streaming, AI, and film. Default judgments, summary rulings, and jurisdiction challenges are all in play, with cases that could reshape how rights are enforced and how the Copyright Act is interpreted.

At the same time, the global royalties landscape continues to expand, as new international partnerships highlight the growing strategic importance of neighbouring rights.

Let's dive in.

Anna’s Archive Fails to Respond to Labels’ Lawsuit, Faces Default Judgment

Shadow library Anna’s Archive has been placed in default after failing to respond to a copyright lawsuit filed by Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group, and Spotify. The case, filed in New York, alleges the site scraped 86 million tracks from Spotify and planned to distribute them via BitTorrent as part of a so-called preservation archive. A federal judge has already issued a preliminary injunction blocking distribution and ordering domain providers to disable access to the site. With no response filed, the plaintiffs can now seek a default judgment, potentially securing damages without a trial. The labels are requesting statutory damages of up to $150,000 per infringed work, alongside additional penalties under the DMCA.

Pandora Accuses MLC of Exceeding Its Role in Royalty Dispute

Pandora and The Mechanical Licensing Collective have filed dueling motions for summary judgment in a Tennessee court, escalating their dispute over whether Pandora owes mechanical royalties on its personalised radio service. Pandora argues that its core non-interactive radio product only requires performing rights licences, and accuses The MLC of trying to upend longstanding industry practice by reclassifying the service as interactive. The MLC counters that because users can unlock limited on-demand functionality, the entire service should be treated as interactive, triggering mechanical royalties on all streams. Pandora also claims the MLC is overstepping its role as an administrator of the compulsory licence and attempting to act as a regulatory enforcer. The outcome will hinge on how the court interprets the Copyright Act’s definitions of interactive and non-interactive services.

Court Grants Summary Judgment in Documentary Copyright Case

Universal Music Group and ABKCO have secured a major summary judgment win in their long-running copyright lawsuit over unauthorized “documentaries” about artists including The Rolling Stones, ABBA, U2, Elton John, and Nirvana. The court ruled largely in favor of the rightsholders, finding that UK-based defendants including Coda Publishing and director Robert Kirk Carruthers infringed copyrighted works without authorization, rejecting arguments that the films qualified as fair use or were properly licensed. Judge Katherine Failla granted summary judgment on nearly all works at issue, approved sanctions and permanent injunctive relief, and determined that the infringement was willful, increasing potential damages. The ruling marks a significant victory for the plaintiffs after years of procedural disputes, representation changes, and discovery battles, with the defendants now facing the next phase of the case.

Udio Seeks Dismissal of Indie Artists’ Copyright Lawsuit Over Jurisdiction

Udio is seeking dismissal of a copyright lawsuit filed by independent musicians in IL, arguing the court lacks personal jurisdiction over the NY-based company. The plaintiffs, including Chicago artists such as Attack the Sound and Davo Sounds, allege Udio trained its AI models on copyrighted recordings without authorization, including through alleged stream-ripping from YouTube, and violated laws including the DMCA and IL right-of-publicity statutes. Udio contends it has no employees or operations in IL and says the claims should be dismissed or transferred to NY, citing a similar earlier lawsuit filed there. The motion comes as Udio has recently secured licensing deals with major and independent record labels, signaling a shift toward formal industry partnerships while litigation continues.

SoundExchange Adds 17 More CMO Partners Around the World

SoundExchange has announced 17 new reciprocal agreements with collecting societies around the world, pushing its total partnerships to more than 90 and giving it 91% coverage of the global neighbouring-rights market. Newly added territories include Kenya, Barbados, Panama, Paraguay, Norway, Switzerland, India, the Netherlands, and Portugal. With the expanded network, SoundExchange now collects international neighbouring-rights royalties for nearly 500,000 artists and rightsholders, further strengthening its role as a central hub for global digital performance income. CEO Michael Huppe emphasized that neighbouring rights are becoming an increasingly strategic area for the industry. He pointed to the rise of dedicated neighbouring-rights divisions within major labels and publishers, as well as growing involvement from data and monitoring companies.