In a complaint filed on November 4, the Music industry giant accuses the French group of distributing millions of titles on several platforms for which it does not have the rights by falsifying their content and the names of the artists.
Turmoil in the music industry. Believe, the French company “serving independent artists and labels” is attacked by Universal Music which accuses it of having circumvented copyright regulations. The American giant filed a complaint in New York on November 4, demanding $500 million in compensation. According to him, the French group would lead a “illicit strategy” which would consist of “monetize a vast catalog of counterfeit recordings”. Several million music titles would be affected by this illegal use.
Founded in 2005, Believe has become one of the world’s leading digital music distribution companies. Present in 50 countries, in 2023 it supports more than 1.35 million artists including Jul, PNL and Hoshi in France. His job is to connect artists to labels and streaming platforms. Among them, Amazon, Spotify, YouTube and even TikTok. The same year, they achieved a turnover of 880 million euros.
An American company
It is above all the American distributor TuneCore which is at the heart of the affair, a digital channel bought by Believe in 2015 which allows artists to distribute their songs on several platforms. On its website, TuneCore answers frequently asked questions such as: “Can I submit compositions that I did not write/compose or are not my original compositions?” to which the company responds that it is impossible, because “all your submissions must be your own original compositions”.
This is the rule, but what is the company doing to enforce it? According to the complaint, not much. She even accuses the parent company, Believe, of having made very little attempt to “hide your illegal actions”. Of the ‘fraudulent artists and pirate record labels» would have “invaded” the platform, which only does “little effort to avoid these illegal actions”according to the plaintiffs’ accusations.
Among the counterfeiting strategies questioned, the document cites the creation of remixed or accelerated versions of original hits, under a modified artist name, with misleading spelling: “Jutin Biber” (Justin Bieber), Lady Gaga (Lady Gaga) or “Arriana Gramde” (Ariana Grande)… Techniques make it possible to falsify the original versions, in order to circumvent copyrights, by proposing a so-called new version.
Cease activities
Universal request “a permanent injunction requiring Believe to cease its activities” as well as compensation “at least $500 million” (approximately 466 million euros) for the damage caused. “We strongly refute these allegations and Universal Music Group’s statements and will fight them.”defended a spokesperson for Believe, emphasizing that it takes “respect copyright very seriously”.
“It was unexpected, I found out yesterday”confides a Believe employee. All employees would have been informed of the complaint by email, without suspecting anything until now. The announcement risks seriously shaking the French company, even if the dispute is in the hands of a foreign jurisdiction and therefore will not necessarily be enforced. On the other hand, this accusation of copyright infringement could affect Believe’s reputation and limit its access to the American market.
