More often than not, we come across a YouTube video that uses a song as its background music. Whether or not the video creator actually got the rights to use the song is unknown, but so far we’ve seen many a YouTube video use songs by other artists with no problem. In fact YouTube star, Michelle Phan, has been doing that for a while now, but for some reason, Ultra Records, decided to put a stop to it.
For those unfamiliar, Ultra Records is a record label that plays home to EDM artists such as Kaskade, Deadmau5, amd Calvin Harris, just to name a few. According to the label, Phan has used music by their artists without permission and has profited from it (via the ads in YouTube videos). They also claim that they have warned her several times but she has not taken any action to remove the offending songs.
The label is now suing her and are seeking maximum statutory damages which would basically cost her $150,000 in damages for each infringed piece of work. Phan has yet to release a statement regarding the lawsuit, and based on her current posts she either does not realize she has been hit with a lawsuit yet, or is probably sorting it out with her lawyers before making a statement.
In any case it seems that not all of Ultra Records’ artists are on board with the lawsuit. Kaskade has recently tweeted his support, albeit not explicitly, but based on what he says it looks like he’s not too fussed about her using his music in her videos.