Judge allows NMPA double damages of $300m in Peloton suit
A US district judge has allowed the National Music Publishers' Association's (NMPA) request to file an amended complaint, which doubles damages to $300 million against exercise startup company Peloton.
District Judge Denise Cote approved the NMPA's amendment on Friday, September 27, approximately two weeks after the trade association filed the request.
NMPA filed its original suit against Peloton back in March 2019 requesting $150 million in damages, alleging that Peloton’s exercise bikes had illegally used more than 1,000 songs in workout videos.
However, its latest complaint has asked for $300 million damages, after allegedly finding more than 1,000 additional musical works that Peloton has infringed as a result of initial discovery.
The newly discovered works include some of the “most famous and popular songs ever recorded”, according to Peloton. This includes Ray Charles’ “Georgia On My Mind”, “I Can See For Miles” by The Who, and The Beatles’ “I Saw Her Standing There”.
NMPA accused Peloton of being a “textbook willful infringer” in the second complaint, filed on Friday, September 27.
“Peloton nonetheless deliberately decided to use plaintiffs’ musical works without any regard for the rights of thousands of songwriters and creators whose music helped fuel the explosive growth of Peloton from a startup to a company reported to be valued at $8 billion,” alleged the claim.
The NMPA added that it had brought the action to stop Peloton’s ongoing copyright infringement and to recover the maximum statutory damages resulting from Peloton’s “callous and flagrant prior and ongoing infringement”.
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