Photo: Mert Kahveci

Case of Streaming Fraud Finally Heading to Court

Aug 18, 2023 | In media, Trials

18. August 2023

In spring, several media focused on the Rights Alliance’s case, which involves potentially the world’s largest music streaming fraud. Now, the case is set to go to court in February 2024.

Back in 2018, Rights Alliance reported an individual from Jylland for allegedly generating artificially generated music streams, which, according to the accusation, resulted in them wrongfully receiving royalties totaling more than 4,5 million Danish kroner. However, even though the case could prove to be the world’s biggest streaming fraud if the accused is found guilty, the further handling of the case had been unknown until recently. Since the Rights Alliance brought attention to the case and its lengthy processing time in May, they have been informed that the case is scheduled to finally go to trial in Aarhus in February 2024.

DR Podcast Focuses on the Case

The fact that a Danish case involving copyright infringement and stream manipulation could potentially be the world’s largest has attracted the attention of several Danish media outlets. In May, the case was covered by Zetland and Kulturen på P1, and now, the DR podcast “Ekstranummer” has shone a spotlight on the case in an episode titled “The World’s (Maybe) Biggest Swindler.”

In the podcast, Maria Fredenslund, CEO of the Rights Alliance, joins host Pelle Peter Jencel for a discussion on how this case serves as an early example of the challenges posed by artificial intelligence in content protection. With the rapid development of artificial intelligence, the enforcement of rights relies heavily on clear legal precedents established through court rulings.

Listen to the episode “The World’s (Maybe) Biggest Swindler” from the DR podcast “Ekstranummer” here (Danish)