On January 23, 2026, Wixen Music Publishing sued social media company, Meta in the United States District Court for the Central District of California. Wixen alleges that Meta committed copyright infringement by using over 330 of its copyrighted songs on Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp without permission.
The songs included are by artists such as The Black Keys, Missy Elliot, The Doors, and Weezer. Wixen seeks damages for copyright infringement and additional damages for defamation and interference with its contractual relations.
Wixen is claiming that Meta is trying to “drastically cut payments to human songwriters” and replace them with royalty free A.I.-generated music. As a result of Wixen making these allegations, Wixen claims Meta defamed them.
Wixen has licensed its musical catalog to Meta since 2018. When the license was about to expire in 2025, the negotiations faltered when Meta allegedly “sought to drastically cut the license rates, to a small fraction for what Wixen and, therefore, Wixen’s clients, had received over the past seven years.”
Wixen further contends that Meta continued to exploit Wixen’s catalog in its music library after their license expired “resulting in thousands of audiovisual works incorporating [songs] without authorization or compensation.”
Meta is a powerhouse company who, as alleged in the Complaint, made over $161 billion in advertising revenue in 2024. According to the Complaint, in 2024, Meta’s platform had three billion monthly active users on Instagram; Facebook had already reached that amount by 2023. The Complaint further states that “in October 2025, Meta announced that Reels is on track to generate $50 billion in advertising revenue in the next 12 months.” Meta’s “Reels” is a short-form video format across Facebook and Instagram.
In addition to its copyright infringement claims, Wixen alleges that Meta engaged in a “pressure campaign” during its license renewal negotiations. In particular, Wixen alleges that Meta removed some of Wixen’s clients’ music from its platforms, while its license was still in force, and then falsely claimed that Wixen was responsible for its removal. The Complaint states: “Further, Meta falsely told these clients and their representatives that Wixen was muting and blocking the clients’ music on Meta’s platform.”
Wixen contends that “Meta made these false statements with the malicious intent to strong-arm Wixen into accepting drastically reduced rates.”
Wixen mentions that Meta’s hard-nosed negotiating tactics may be related to its ambitious plans for using artificial intelligence: “Meta’s reason for slashing payment to songwriters is to replace human generated, royalty-bearing music with royalty-free generated music.”
The Complaint mentions that Meta’s investment in A.I. and its development of the “AudioCraft” technology “generates music from text prompts and directly threatens the future and livelihood of musical artists.”
Wixen seeks statutory damages for copyright infringement of at least $49.65 million for the 331 musical works itemized in the Complaint. In addition, Wixen seeks injunctive relief to prevent future infringement.
Wixen also seeks a minimum of $20 million in damages for its defamation and interference with business relations claims. I think it is very likely the parties with settle this lawsuit at some point.
GLENN LITWAK is a veteran entertainment attorney based in Santa Monica, CA. He has represented platinum selling recording artists, GRAMMY-winning music producers, hit songwriters, management and production companies, music publishers and independent record labels. Litwak is also a frequent speaker at music industry conferences around the country, such as South by Southwest and the Billboard Music in Film and TV Conference. Litwak has been selected as a “Super Lawyer” by Super Lawyer magazine for 2022-2025. Email Litwak at gtllaw59@gmail.com or visit glennlitwak.com.
This article is a very brief overview of the subject matter and does not constitute legal advice.
