US court permanently dismisses lawsuit against Spotify over Drake streams — Rolling Stone

US Federal Judge Josephine L. Staton has permanently dismissed a class-action lawsuit against Spotify accusing the platform of ignoring billions of allegedly fake streams of rapper Drake’s music. The lawsuit was filed by rapper RBX, whose real name is Eric Dwayne Collins, Rolling Stone reports.

The court’s position

In a 16-page ruling, the judge stated that Collins had not proven that Spotify owed him a specific legal duty and had also failed to establish the harm required for a negligence claim. According to the court’s conclusion, the plaintiff did not provide sufficient facts to support claims of unfair enforcement of the platform’s rules, fraud, or harm to consumers or competitors.

Staton also noted that the difference in influence between an artist and a streaming company did not mean that Spotify was in a special protective relationship with the plaintiff. The judge described their relationship as mutually beneficial economically, despite the power imbalance typical of interactions between corporations and individuals.

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What the allegations involved

Collins, who is Snoop Dogg’s cousin, alleged in the lawsuit that a substantial share of Drake’s approximately 37 billion streams may have been inauthentic and originated from a network of bot accounts. In his view, artificially inflated figures allow certain artists to receive a larger share of royalties, reducing payments to musicians with legitimate streams.

Drake was not a defendant in the case. The court had previously dismissed the lawsuit but allowed Collins to amend his complaint. The case is now permanently closed, so he cannot refile the same claims in federal court.