X Accuses Music Publishers of Monopoly, Widening Legal Rift (1)

Social media platform X Corp. on Friday sued the largest music publishers in the US and their trade associations, with claims that the group leveraged its power to monopolize the market for licenses to copyrighted musical compositions.

X Corp., Elon Musk’s social media company, alleges the National Music Publishers’ Association Inc. and other publishers, including Sony and its EMI units, colluded to force X to purchase industrywide licenses—refusing to deal individually with X, according to a complaint filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

“As a result of Defendants’ anticompetitive conduct and collective exercise of ...