TikTok may soon be investigated for copyright infringement…
According to Billboard, the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) is calling on United States Congress to investigate the Chinese company’s potential copyright theft, stated as such in a letter dated October 16.
The letter, sent to Senator Marco Rubio from NMPA president and CEO David Israelite, claims the widely popular video sharing app “has consistently violated U.S. copyright law and the rights of songwriters and music publishers.”
It goes on: “The scale of TikTok’s copyright infringement in the U.S. is likely considerable and deserves scrutiny. We hope that if Congress looks further into matters relating to TikTok that copyright theft is included in the scope of its examination.”
The letter describes: “Many videos uploaded to TikTok incorporate musical works that have not been licensed and for which copyright owners are not being paid.”
Not only are there copyright claims that involve songwriters and music publishers, but censorship concerns as well.
As of May 2019, TikTok was the most downloaded iOS app for the fifth consecutive quarter.
Source: Billboard