A judge has ruled that parts of the National Music Publishers' Association's summer 2023 copyright infringement lawsuit against Elon Musk's X on behalf of Universal Music Group, Sony Music Publishing, Warner Chappell Music and other such parties can move forward.

The plaintiffs will be allowed to pursue allegations that X "allowed users to pay for more forgiving treatment under its anti-infringement policies" by subscribing to a premium "verified" version that allows them to upload longer videos. However, U.S. District Judge Aleta A. Trauger dismissed a cornerstone of the NMPA's case, which claims X itself is liable for direct infringement and that it is "vicariously" on the hook for direct infringement by its users.

The NMPA's suit seeks $250m in damages. In denying X's motion to dismiss the case, Trauger said questions remained as "to what extent X Corp. may be liable for the infringing acts of users on its platform." She further denied X's attempts to dismiss NMPA claims involving discipline of repeat copyright offenders on the platform and failure to respond to takedown requests.

"As the Supreme Court has acknowledged, the lines between direct infringement, contributory infringement and vicarious liability are not clearly drawn," Trauger wrote. "The ultimate questions presented by this case are whether and to what extent X Corp. may be liable for the infringing acts of users on its platform." As such, X's monitoring and subscription policies are "relevant to that inquiry" as they pertain to its willingness to "tolerate infringement."

Addressing allegations of slow or no responses to copyright claims, Trauger said, "If X Corp. engaged in egregious delays in responding to valid takedown notices, or outright ignored some notices that were both facially and actually valid, that could support liability."

"The spread of rampant music piracy on the platform is obvious and unacceptable," reads a statement from the NMPA, which is led by David Israelite (pictured), "and we look forward to securing just compensation for the songwriters and music publishers whose work is being stolen."