Pharrell's Lawyer Threatens $1B USD Lawsuit for Performance Rights

The discussion on free music has taken a sharp turn over the past few years, beginning (for the sake of conversation) with a little-known program named Spotify and most recently underlined by a new licensing dispute between Irving Azoff and YouTube. Azoff, who manages the performance rights for the likes of Pharrell Williams, The Eagles and John Lennon amongst others, is claiming that YouTube lacks the music licenses for over 20,000 of the songs hosted on its site. Following our report last month, Billboard now reports that Azoff has gone further to assert legal action – a suit to the tune of $1 billion USD – if YouTube doesn’t make strides to retrieve those licenses or remove the songs. On the flipside, YouTube parent company Google argues that its the responsibility of copyright holders to highlight and specify which songs need renewed licenses. The conversation recently heated up with the potential of said lawsuit, which could make Azoff’s case one of the most lucrative and noteworthy music disputes in the modern age. Stay tuned to our pages for updates on the dispute.