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Wixen claims the firm failed to compensate musicians, songwriters and publishers for tracks which include Tom Petty’s Free Fallin.

Music streaming giant Spotify has been hit with a £1.1bn lawsuit for hosting songs which it allegedly doesn’t have full rights to, Sky News reported.

Tom Petty Spotify Lawsuit

Wixen Music Publishing claims the Sweden-based company has failed to compensate musicians, songwriters and publishers for songs which include Tom Petty’s Free Fallin and The Doors’ Light My Fire.

“Spotify brazenly disregards United States Copyright law and has committed willful, ongoing copyright infringement,” Wixen said in the complaint.

“As a result, Spotify has built a billion-dollar business on the backs of songwriters and publishers whose music Spotify is using, in many cases without obtaining and paying for the necessary licenses.”

It also suggests more than 20% of songs available on Spotify are unlicensed and illegal.

Spotify has not responded to a request for comment.

The California-based company administers songs by artists such as Janis Joplin, The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach, Neil Young, Stevie Nicks and Rage Against The Machine.

Spotify has been dealing with another copyright lawsuit brought by a group of songwriters and publishers including Wixen.

The streaming company tried to settle the lawsuit by compensating the plaintiffs with £32m, which Wixen rejected and is now pursuing a suit of its own.