New legal filings emerge in Peloton music copyright infringement case

A coalition of American music publishers have submitted another legal filing against Peloton, adamant they are not being anti-competitive by coming together to sue the indoor cycling firm for copyright infringement, reports Complete Music Update.

Peloton is alleged to have used over 1,000 songs without proper authorisation, with the US National Music Publisher’s Association initially taking out the lawsuit in March, claiming $150 million in damages.

More than a dozen independent publishers sued Peloton, leading to the firm counter-suing in April on the grounds that it had alleged good relationships with most of the publishers involved and had been negotiating licensing deals with a number of them.

According to Peloton, those relationships only broke down due to the involvement of America’s National Music Publishers Association (NMPA), submitting another legal filing earlier this month accusing the NMPA of instigating a ‘coordinated effort’ with the publishers to ‘fix prices’ and refuse to deal with the fitness firm.

Peloton also alleged the NMPA had ‘exceeded the bounds of legitimate conduct for a trade association’ and said the organisation’s actions have ‘harmed competition’.

The NMPA submitted a new court filing last week in response, citing the Noerr-Pennington doctrine under US law, essentially allowing competing businesses to come together to lobby or litigate. As part of the filing, the publishers are now urging the court to dismiss Peloton’s competition law complaints.

The indoor cycling firm recently filed for an IPO in August despite revealing $196 million losses over the past year, with shares dropping 11% at close of play on the first day of trading.