Case Study Analysis: Spotify and Copyright Infringement Issues

This case study analyzes the copyright infringement issues faced by Spotify, a leading digital music service provider. The report examines the stakeholders affected, including music artists and record companies, highlighting the economic and ethical responsibilities of Spotify. The legal responsibilities involve securing proper licenses and adhering to copyright laws, while ethical responsibilities include ensuring fair royalty payments and respecting artists' intellectual property rights. The study discusses the ethical issues related to unauthorized streaming of music and the need for laws that balance the interests of artists and streaming services. The conclusion emphasizes Spotify's responsibility to maintain ethical business operations and protect artists' rights through proper agreements. The provided references offer further insights into the topic.

Running head: SPOTIFY CASE STUDY ANALYSIS
SPOTIFY CASE STUDY ANALYSIS
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Introduction
Digital music services have emerged to become one of the most essential sources of
entertainment for audiences all over the world. Spotify is one such global digital music
service provider based in Sweden. In spite of its rapid growth in the entertainment industry,
the organization has faced severe criticism and lawsuits on the basis of copyright
infringement of various artists and music bands (Gray 2012). The company has allegedly
denied payment of royalty to various music artists for underlying compositions. The report
aims to identify the stakeholders who are affected by such copyright infringement by Spotify
and the legal and ethical aspects pertaining to the issue in the digital music service industry.
The importance of the report lies in the rights of the music artists regarding their intellectual
property as well as the responsibility of the listeners in using such digital music streaming
applications.
Discussion
The issue of copyright infringement by Spotify has affected a number of stakeholders
in the following ways:
 Music artists – One of the major stakeholders of Spotify are the music artists who
share their original work on the platform. Due to the copyright infringement issue
they are unable to receive the due payment of royalty.
 Record companies – Copyright infringement issues of Spotify has led the record
companies of the affected artists to incur losses due to lack of payment for royalties
from audience views.
Spotify being one of the leading digital music service providers has an economic
responsibility towards its stakeholders. The business model of the organization allows the

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artists who share their music on the application to earn revenues on the basis of viewership of
the customers as well as royalties received from the company itself (Richardson 2014).
The legal responsibilities of the organization entails the maintenance of the two orders
of copyright for every song published. These two copyrights include the one owned by the
label of the artist and that of the underlying composition. These copyright issues also include
agreements between the artists and the organization regarding the rights of the intellectual
property (Verma, A., 2015).
The ethical responsibilities of the organization include ensuring a proper method of
payment to the music artists as per the agreement and a prevention of infringement of the
rights of their intellectual property. This also includes respecting the integrity and hard work
of the artists by securing permission to stream their music and provide them with their due
payment of royalty.
The ethical issue in this case pertains to the infringement of the rights of the artists by
illegally streaming their intellectual property without proper permission or payment
(Weijters, Goedertier and Verstreken 2014). The issue in this case also focuses on the laws
developed to protect the rights of the artists in the high-technology music streaming industry.
The recommendation that can be provided in the case is to develop laws that may
integrate the interests of the artists as well as the music streaming services so that both the
parties may benefit from the business.
Conclusion
From the above discussion, it can be concluded that Spotify as one of the leading
music streaming services globally, has an immense responsibility towards its stakeholders in
order to ensure ethical and efficient business operations. For this purpose, the organization

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needs to develop proper agreements with the music artists so that the rights of their
intellectual property is protected.

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References
Gray, K., 2012. Stealing from the rich to entertain the poor?: A survey of literature on the
ethics of digital piracy. The Serials Librarian, 63(3-4), pp.288-295.
Richardson, J.H., 2014. The Spotify paradox: How the creation of a compulsory license
scheme for streaming on-demand music platforms can save the music industry. UCLA Ent. L.
Rev., 22, p.45.
Verma, A., 2015. Spotify, a Legal Alternative to Music Piracy?.
Weijters, B., Goedertier, F. and Verstreken, S., 2014. Online music consumption in today’s
technological context: Putting the influence of ethics in perspective. Journal of Business
Ethics, 124(4), pp.537-550.