TikTok is the musical Vine for all the Generation Z kids. Sensor Tower reported that TikTok hit 1 billion downloads worldwide in February. Additionally, 100 million of those were in the U.S. However TikTok now faces investigation into their copyright policies. The National Music Publisher’s Association (NMPA) brought up the concern in a letter to Senator Marco Rubuio. This continues and piggybacks off of Rubio’s request to launch an investigation into TikTok over censorship concerns last week.
David Israelite, president and CEO of NMPA, states in the letter:
“In addition to important censorship concerns, it appears that TikTok has consistently violated U.S. copyright law and the rights of songwriters and music publishers. Many videos uploaded to TikTok incorporate musical works that have not been licensed and for which copyright owners are not being paid.”
A spokesperson from TikTok made a statement to Billboard in response to the NMPA letter:
“TikTok has broad licensing coverage across the music publishing industry covering many thousands of publishers and songwriters and millions of copyrights, and has paid royalties since its inception. The platform has spurred the success of artists and songwriters worldwide through its viral meme culture, driving chart hits and building household names. We are proud to engage with and support the music community.”
The outcome of this can greatly affect the platform. More updates will come when there’s additional information. You can read the full letter from the NMPA on Music Business Worldwide.
