Spotify is being sued by the electronic and dance music brand Ministry of Sound—because the streaming music company refuses to delete playlists which mirror its compilation albums.
Pursuing Spotify through the UK High Court, the Ministry of Sound wants an injunction which would see the playlists—which feature the same songs in the same order as officially released compilation albums—removed for good. It’s also seeking damages and costs, because its been chasing Spotify over the issues since 2012.
Of course, the case hangs on whether compilation albums—essentially, the ordering of a playlist—qualifies for copyright protection. Spotify has the rights required to stream all the tracks which appear on the playlists, but the issue is whether the ordering itself is the copyright of Ministry of Sound.
Ministry of Sound, understandably, argues that a lot of work and research goes into creating the compilations; critics might argue that the ordering of a list can’t be claimed as copyrightable . It’s set to play out in the courts, but what do you think? [Guardian]
