List of lawsuits involving X Corp.
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This is a partial list of lawsuits involving X Corp., an American technology company.
On-going
[edit]Copyright infringement case
[edit]In June 2023, the National Music Publishers' Association, on behalf of Universal Music Group, Concord Music Group, Sony Music Publishing, Warner Chappell Music, and other major publishers, sued X Corp. for about US$250 million in damages over alleged copyright infringement on about 1,7000 songs.[1]
In March 2024, a US district judge upheld parts of the lawsuit against X Corp.[2]
Facilitate Corp case
[edit]In June 2023, Australian management firm Facilitate Corp sued X Corp. for alleged unpaid bills related to work done in four countries. The firm seeks about A$1 million (US$665.000) in damages.[1]
X Trademark cases
[edit]In October 2023, marketing agency X Social Media filed a lawsuit against X Corp. alleging a violation of its trademark of the letter X.[3]
In July 2024, PR Firm Multiply sued X Corp. for allegedly stealing their established identity, citing "consumer confusion by using the "X" trademark for social-media marketing services that compete with Multiply".[4]
Severance pay of Twitter executives
[edit]Four former Twitter executives, including CEO Parag Agrawal, Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal, head of legal Vijaya Gadde and General Counsel Sean Edgett sued Elon Musk and X Corp. for US$128 million in unpaid severance in March 2024. In the filing, the plaintiffs alleged that Musk had acted in revenge against them personally.[5] A district judge refused to dismiss the case on November 1, 2024.[6]
In August 2024, Omid Kordestani, former executive chairman of Twitter, filed a lawsuit against X Corp. in California Superior Court. Kordestani alleges that Elon Musk is refusing to cash out more than $20 million worth of shares owed to him as compensation for his service.[7]
In November 2024, the former Twitter chief marketing officer Leslie Berland joined the group of executives in their bid to claim unpaid severance. Berland claims that she was "wrongly denied about $20 million in severance after Musk fired her based on a disagreement connected to former president Donald Trump's Twitter account".[8]
Media Matters case
[edit]In November 2023, X Corp. sued nonprofit watchdog journalism organization Media Matters for America for "allegedly disparaging the company and harming its relationships with advertisers".[9]
Imane Khelif case
[edit]In August 2024, Algerian boxer and Olympian champion Imane Khelif sued X Corp., citing "cyberbullying". The lawsuit was filed in France.[10]
Advertisers antitrust case
[edit]In August 2024, X Corp. sued the food giants Unilever and Mars Inc., private healthcare company CVS Health, and renewable energy firm Ørsted - along with trade association World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) for allegedly conspiring to withhold "billions of dollars" in advertising revenue.[11]
Days later, US district judge O'Connor recused himself from the case without providing an explanation. The case was reassigned to Judge Kinkeade. A NPR report drew scrutiny to the judge's investment in Tesla, Inc..[12]
In October 2024, X Corp. dismissed its claims against Unilever.[13]
Wiwynn case
[edit]In August 2024, Taiwanese tech firm Wiwynn sued X Corp. over US$120 million worth of alleged unpaid IT bills. The firm seeks damages worth US$61 million, "having been able to cancel or recoup about US$59 million worth of the components".[14] The firm added two new counts to the lawsuit in October 2024: intentional misrepresentation and negligent misrepresentation.[15]
Don Lemon case
[edit]In August 2024, Don Lemon sued Elon Musk and X Corp. over the cancellation of a US$1.5 million talk show deal. The ex-CNN talk show host was also promised a share of advertising revenue. The lawsuit alleges fraud, negligent misrepresentation, and misappropriation of name and likeness.[16]
User data case
[edit]In August 2024, nine EU countries (Austria, Belgium, Spain, France, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, and Poland) sued X Corp. for allegedly using user data without consent to train its generative AI, Grok. The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) alleges X Corp. processed personal data from May 7 to Aug. 1, 2024, affecting around 60 million EU users. X Corp. risks fines of up to 4% of its global annual revenue.[17]
California's content moderation law case
[edit]In September 2023, X Corp. sued the state of California over a content moderation law "requiring them to publish their policies for policing disinformation, harassment, hate speech and extremism."[18] In September 2024, X Corp. won its appeal to block a part of the law, but the case was remanded for further analysis by the district court.[19][20]
Resolved
[edit]CCDH Defamation case
[edit]In May 2024, a federal judge dismissed X Corp.'s lawsuit against the Center for Countering Digital Hate, citing a California law against strategic lawsuits against public participation.[21]
Bright Data case
[edit]In May 2024, a federal judge dismissed X Corp.'s US$1 million lawsuit against Israeli technology company Bright Data for alleged data scraping.[22]
Severance pay of Twitter staff
[edit]In July 2024, a district judge dismissed a case brought by former Twitter staff, who accused Musk of "unlawfully denying roughly US$500m in severance payments owed to workers fired after his takeover of the company."[23] At least one former employee was awarded unpaid severance in September in a closed-door arbitration.[6]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b "Since rebranding Twitter to X, Elon Musk has faced multiple lawsuits. Here are the main ones". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved November 9, 2024.
- ^ "Twitter's music label legal trouble might have legs". The Verge. Retrieved November 9, 2024.
- ^ "Elon Musk's X hit with trademark lawsuit from marketing agency". Reuters. Archived from the original on October 7, 2023. Retrieved October 7, 2023.
- ^ "X Corp hit with lawsuit from PR firm over 'X' trademark". Reuters. July 22, 2024. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
- ^ Kolodny, Lora (2024-03-04). "Former Twitter execs sue Musk and X for more than $128 million in severance". CNBC. Retrieved 2024-06-10.
- ^ a b "Former Twitter execs sue Musk and X for more than $128 million in severance". Yahoo! Finances. Retrieved 2024-06-10.
- ^ "Ex-Twitter Chairman Sues Elon Musk's X for $20 Million in Shares". Bloomberg.com. 2024-08-10. Retrieved 2024-08-11.
- ^ "Musk, X Corp. Sued for Severance by Ex-Twitter Marketing Officer". Bloomberg law. Retrieved 2024-06-10.
- ^ "Musk's X likely to lose records appeal in Media Matters case, court says". Reuters. October 21, 2024. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
- ^ "J.K. Rowling and Elon Musk Named in Cyberbullying Lawsuit Filed by Algerian Boxer Imane Khelif After Olympic Win (EXCLUSIVE)". variety. August 13, 2024. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
- ^ "Elon Musk sues Unilever and Mars over X 'boycott'". BBC. August 7, 2024. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
- ^ "Texas judge steps aside in Elon Musk's X case against advertisers". NPR. August 13, 2024. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
- ^ "Elon Musk's X drops Unilever from advertiser boycott lawsuit". Reuters. October 11, 2024. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
- ^ "Elon Musk's X is being sued again — this time over $120 million worth of server parts". Business Insider. August 19, 2024. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
- ^ "Wiwynn adds two new counts to $61m lawsuit against Elon Musk's X". Data Center Dynamics. October 20, 2024. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
- ^ "Ex-CNN star Lemon sues Musk over cancelled X show". BBC. August 2, 2024. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
- ^ "Elon Musk, X Sued by Nine EU Countries Over AI Data Claims". Mexican Business News. August 12, 2024. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
- ^ "Elon Musk's X Corp sues California to undo content moderation law". Reuters. September 9, 2023.
- ^ https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2024/09/04/24-271.pdf
- ^ "Elon Musk's X wins appeal to block part of California content moderation law". Reuters. September 4, 2024.
- ^ Oremus, Will; Telford, Taylor (May 29, 2024). "Musk tried to 'punish' critics, judge rules, in tossing a lawsuit". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
- ^ "Elon Musk's X loses lawsuit against Bright Data over data scraping". CNBC. May 10, 2024. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
- ^ "Musk defeats ex-Twitter staff seeking $500m in severance". BBC. August 30, 2024. Retrieved June 8, 2024.