Spotify vs. MLC: Court Throws Down Mixed Ruling in Royalty Fight

The legal back-and-forth between Spotify and the Mechanical Licensing Collective just got a new twist. A New York federal court handed down a ruling that's got something in it for both camps—which really means neither one fully won.

At the heart of it: how Spotify owes money on mechanical royalties, especially around bundle deals and subscription tiers. The MLC's been pushing hard on what artists and songwriters should get paid when tracks move as part of a package. Spotify's been fighting to keep those calculations favorable to their bottom line. Classic streaming-era beef.

Mixed rulings like this usually mean the fight continues—and it probably will. Both sides are gonna dig in, claim victory, and keep lawyering up. Meanwhile, the actual money that's supposed to flow to songwriters and producers stays tied up in court.

This is the kind of grinding legal war that defines the modern streaming game: billions moving through the system, but who gets what is still being hammered out in federal court instead of being settled at a table.

Read the full story at Music Ally → https://musically.com/2026/09/07/court-issues-mixed-ruling-in-latest-spotify-mlc-legal-skirmish/