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Sony Music sues Triller for copyright infringement, alleging it is owed millions

Doja Cat performs on the Frank Stage on the second day of the three-day Day N Vegas hip-hop music festival at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds in Las Vegas on Nov. 13, 2021. (Tribune News Service)
Ty Anousha Sakoui Los Angeles Times

Sony Music has sued Triller Inc. for copyright infringement, saying the TikTok rival refused to pay millions for licensing songs like Doja Cat’s “Say So” and Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road.”

The New York-based music group has had a licensing deal with Triller since 2016, but since renewing a contract in December 2020 the company hasn’t paid up in recent months, Sony said in its complaint.

Triller, which operates a music video app and is based in Century City, owes millions of dollars, including interest, Sony said in its lawsuit filed in New York federal court Monday.

A representative for Triller did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“Triller displays brazen contempt for the intellectual property rights of Sony Music, its artists, and others,” Sony said in its complaint. “Not only does this harm Sony Music and the artists by depriving them of compensation, but it harms the public at large by reducing the incentive to invest in the creation and dissemination of new music.”

The litigation is the latest in Triller’s legal woes. The app operators have had disputes with other music owners and claims of non-payment by other parties.

Last year, Universal Music Group pulled its music from Triller after it failed to agree to terms for the use of its content.

“Triller has shamefully withheld payments owed to our artists and refuses to negotiate a license going forward,” Universal said in February 2021. Triller said its agreement with UMG expired a week prior and that it had not withheld payments from artists.

And last month, the co-creators of the music platform Verzuz sued Triller in Los Angeles for breach of contract, alleging they were owed $28 million. Swizz Beatz (aka Kasseem Daoud Dean) and Timbaland (aka Timothy Z. Mosley) sold the Verzuz to Triller last year and said in their complaint Triller defaulted on payments.

Triller disputed the claim, saying it had paid more than $50 million in cash and stock, and that the fallout was over another agreement that Verzuz had not yet met, the company told TMZ.

There have been other reports of alleged non-payment to creators.

Earlier this year, some Black creators on Triller said they hadn’t been paid for the content they posted on the app, the Washington Post reported. Triller disputed the report saying it had met the financial commitments .

Last fall Triller announced plans to award one-year contracts to 300 leading Black social media creators, promising earnings worth $4000 a month in fees and company stock. The company said its program was worth $14 million.