X, the social media platform owned by Elon Musk, filed a federal lawsuit Friday against several music publishers and their trade organization, alleging antitrust violations related to music licensing agreements. The lawsuit, lodged in Federal District Court in Dallas, accuses the music publishers of colluding with the National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) to strong-arm X into accepting blanket licensing deals at inflated rates.

According to the suit, the music groups allegedly weaponized the copyright takedown process, leaving X with no viable alternative but to agree to comprehensive licenses rather than negotiate smaller, individual deals. The platform claims this coordinated effort stifled competition and forced X to pay more than it should for the rights to use music.

The lawsuit alleges that the publishers and the NMPA conspired to leverage their collective market power to coerce X into licensing musical works from the entire industry, thereby denying X the benefits of competition among individual music publishers. X is seeking unspecified damages and an injunction to prevent the music groups from continuing the negotiation practices described in the suit.

This legal battle highlights the ongoing tension between social media platforms and the music industry over copyright and fair compensation. Music publishers, who represent songwriters and composers, rely on licensing fees from platforms like X to generate revenue when their music is used. However, platforms argue that the current licensing system is outdated and unfairly favors the music industry. The case has been filed in the Northern District of Texas, a venue where X has recently directed other legal proceedings. The company has not released any further statements.