A federal judge in California has dismissed Epidemic Sound’s second copyright infringement lawsuit against Meta, ruling that the production music company failed to identify specific infringing works on the tech giant’s platforms. However, US District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley granted Epidemic leave to amend its complaint, keeping the legal battle alive for rights holders monitoring how streaming platforms handle unlicensed music.
Failure to Prove Substantial Similarity
Judge Corley granted Meta’s motion to dismiss on Friday, July 10, finding that Epidemic did not plausibly allege that any of the asserted works were being infringed on Meta’s platforms. The Stockholm-headquartered company, which manages a catalog of over 40,000 tracks, sued Meta in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, alleging infringement of 1,000 additional sound recordings and musical compositions. The complaint claimed Meta made Epidemic’s music available through its Audio Library, Original Audio, and Reels Remix tools on Facebook and Instagram.
The judge determined that Epidemic failed to point to a single specific work on Meta’s platforms that was substantially similar to any of its tracks. Under federal pleading rules, a copyright plaintiff must identify each allegedly infringing work and demonstrate how it is substantially similar to the protected work. Corley noted the complaint contained only conclusory allegations that works appeared in the Audio Library and were reproduced through Original Audio, lacking the necessary specificity to create a plausible inference of exact copies or wholesale reproductions.
Secondary Liability Claims Collapse
The ruling also dismissed Epidemic’s inducement and contributory infringement claims because secondary liability for copyright infringement does not exist without direct infringement by a third party. Since the judge found no plausible allegation of direct infringement, the secondary claims failed automatically. Meta’s legal team, represented by the law firm Cooley, argued in its April motion that the case was an improper attempt by Epidemic to stockpile nebulous copyright claims as a business model. Meta stated that despite having access to Epidemic’s catalog for nearly a decade, the company failed to identify a single allegedly infringing use of any of the 1,000 asserted tracks.
Epidemic’s amended complaint is due on Friday, July 24, and the company cannot add new claims or assert additional works without court permission. An initial case management conference is scheduled for August 1. This dismissed filing is the second lawsuit Epidemic has filed against Meta; the first, filed in July 2022, sought statutory damages of up to $150,000 for each of 950 works and remains active before Judge Corley. The original suit alleged Meta reproduced at least 950 tracks from its library for users to stream and integrate into videos without authorization.
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