Meta Platforms has moved to dismiss all five counts in Wixen Music Publishing‘s copyright and tort lawsuit, arguing the publisher is “seeking to transform a routine licensing dispute into a sweeping copyright and tort dispute.”
The motion, which you can read in full here, was filed on Monday (June 15) by Meta‘s attorneys at Mayer Brown LLP and targets Wixen’s First Amended Complaint – which lists 681 works and seeks more than $102 million in statutory damages from the Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp parent – in its entirety.
A hearing is scheduled for August 3 before Judge John F. Walter in the US District Court for the Central District of California.
Meta‘s filing describes Wixen as “a serial litigant,” citing prior copyright complaints the publishing administrator brought against Pandora and Triller – both dismissed by courts in this district on the same copyright standing grounds the motion now raises.
“Rather than accept the commercial consequences of that failed negotiation, Wixen filed this lawsuit, seeking to transform a routine licensing dispute into a sweeping copyright and tort dispute involving 681 asserted works and more than $102 million in claimed statutory damages,” Meta states in the filing.
“Rather than accept the commercial consequences of that failed negotiation, Wixen filed this lawsuit, seeking to transform a routine licensing dispute into a sweeping copyright and tort dispute involving 681 asserted works and more than $102 million in claimed statutory damages.”
Meta’s Motion
Meta contends that Wixen‘s claims are internally inconsistent: the publisher alleges, on one hand, that Meta removed music from its platforms too early – before the license expired – and on the other that Meta failed to remove music quickly enough after termination.
“These inconsistent theories reflect how this case is not about any actual misconduct, but about dissatisfaction with the result of a failed business negotiation,” the motion states.
The case arises from a licensing relationship between Meta and Wixen that dated back to approximately March 2018 and terminated on December 10, 2025, after negotiations to renew the deal collapsed over a dispute about rates.
Wixen filed its original complaint in January 2026, asserting infringement over 331 works and seeking approximately $49.65 million in damages.
In the amended filing, submitted on Friday (May 15), Wixen more than doubled the works at issue and the damages sought, stating it believes the total number of infringed works is “well over one thousand.”
On standing, Meta‘s motion argues that Wixen‘s allegation – that it is the “exclusive licensee and/or owner” of the works at issue – is too conclusory to establish the exclusive rights required to bring a copyright infringement claim under the Copyright Act.
Courts in this district have twice dismissed Wixen‘s copyright complaints on identical grounds, the filing notes: Wixen v. Pandora Media, dismissed in July 2020, and Wixen v. Triller, dismissed in February 2021.
Meta says Wixen repeats the same inadequate formulation in the amended complaint – even after Meta raised the standing defect during pre-motion discussions – and still fails to identify any specific work it owns or any agreement conferring exclusive rights.
On direct infringement, the motion argues the claim fails as to 652 of the 681 asserted works, because the amended complaint provides no specific allegations of infringement for those titles and relies on the same two examples from the original filing: Light My Fire and Mr. Roboto.
On contributory infringement, Meta argues Wixen cites only a single post-termination screenshot of an alleged third-party use of the catalog.
“Aside from that solitary example, the FAC relies on mere speculation that ‘thousands of reels’ must exist,” the motion states.
On defamation and trade libel, Meta argues the communications cited by Wixen – concerning ownership disputes, relinquishment procedures, and catalog updates during the wind-down of the license – “concern entirely ordinary rights-management issues” and are not reasonably susceptible to defamatory meaning.
The tortious interference claim fails, Meta contends, because Wixen still does not identify any specific contract it alleges Meta interfered with.
Wixen, founded by Randall Wixen in 1978, administers more than 100,000 songs for more than 2,000 clients.
Wixen‘s amended complaint alleges that Meta orchestrated a “pressure campaign” during negotiations – removing clients’ music from its platforms while the license remained active and telling those clients that Wixen was responsible for the removal.
The complaint cites a November 24, 2025 email from Meta‘s Natalie Echols – identified as the company’s North America Music Publishing Partnerships Manager at Facebook – in which she directed a former client’s management to have Wixen submit a bulk relinquishment file through Meta‘s data delivery processes, a procedure Wixen says it had already completed through standard industry methods.
“These statements by Meta‘s Natalie Echols are false and misleading, and intended to cause harm to Wixen‘s reputation and make it more difficult for Wixen to solicit clients,” the amended complaint states.
“They further Meta‘s goal of punishing independent music publishers like Wixen who demand market-rate license fees,” the complaint adds.
Wixen‘s amended filing also retains the allegation that Meta‘s motivation in cutting license rates is to replace songwriter-created music with AI-generated alternatives.
“Meta‘s reason for slashing payments to songwriters is to replace human-generated, royalty-bearing music with royalty-free AI-generated music,” the complaint states.
The dispute is one of several active copyright cases against Meta from music rights holders.
Epidemic Sound filed a second copyright infringement lawsuit against Meta in December 2025, alleging infringement of 1,000 additional works – joining its original 2022 case, which sought at least $142 million in damages and remains pending.
Separately, a direct infringement claim brought by Eight Mile Style – co-publisher of a number of Eminem compositions – was cleared to proceed on Tuesday (June 16) by a federal judge in Michigan, though three other counts in that case were dismissed.
Wixen did not immediately respond to MBW‘s request for comment.Music Business Worldwide
