Wixen revises complaint as Meta pushes for dismissal

The legal battle began in January, when Wixen filed a $70 million lawsuit accusing Meta of infringing more than 1 000 musical works across its platforms, including Instagram and Facebook. The publisher alleged that negotiations over a licensing renewal failed to result in a new agreement before the existing licence expired in December 2025.

According to the complaint, Meta removed music belonging to some of Wixen’s current and former clients from its platforms before the licence expired. Wixen further alleged that Meta informed artists and rights holders that the removals had been initiated by the publisher itself.

The lawsuit claimed these statements were false and were made “with the malicious intent to strong-arm Wixen into accepting drastically reduced rates”. Wixen alleged that some clients subsequently ended their relationships with the company.

The complaint also alleged that, after the licence expired, the disputed works continued to appear in “thousands of reels” on Meta-owned platforms without authorisation or compensation.

In addition to the copyright claims, Wixen alleged that Meta was attempting “to replace human-generated, royalty-bearing music with royalty-free AI-generated music”.

Earlier this month, lawyers representing both companies held two video meetings to discuss the case. However, a joint filing indicated that the discussions did not result in any agreement to narrow the issues or avoid further litigation.

Meta reportedly raised concerns regarding Wixen’s legal standing to pursue some copyright claims, arguing that the complaint lacked sufficient detail and included works created before 1978. Wixen defended the adequacy of its claims.

The filing stated that, despite a “productive conversation, the parties did not reach agreement to narrow or resolve issues, and no amendments were agreed in advance of the contemplated motion”.

A judge gave Wixen until 15 May to submit its amended complaint. Meta has until 15 June to respond, following an extension from the original deadline of 7 May.

The dispute is one of several ongoing copyright conflicts involving Meta and music rights holders. The company is also involved in a separate long-running legal battle with Epidemic Sound over music licensing and copyright issues.