Elon Musk's social media platform X and major music publishers, including divisions of Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment, have agreed to end their long-running copyright lawsuit against one another. The dispute began in 2024 when publishers, led by the National Music Publishers' Association, sued X for failing to sign a blanket licensing agreement covering copyrighted songs shared by users, unlike other major platforms such as TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat. The case mattered because it tested how far social media firms could be held liable for user uploads of unlicensed music, with X countersuing on antitrust grounds.

Court filings on Thursday 16 July confirmed both sides would voluntarily drop their claims, though no settlement terms were disclosed. The original publishers' suit had accused X of enabling infringement of more than 1,700 songs by artists including Taylor Swift and Beyoncé, with potential damages of up to $255 million (£196 million). X's January countersuit alleged the publishers had colluded in an antitrust "conspiracy" and "weaponised" copyright takedown requests. Sixteen publishers, including Sony Music Publishing, Warner Chappell Music and BMG Rights Management, were named in the litigation.