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Spotify removes comedians’ work from streaming amid royalties dispute

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Jim Gaffigan appears on stage during the 15th Annual Stand Up For Heroes Benefit at Alice Tully Hall, presented by Bob Woodruff foundation and NY Comedy Festival on November 8, 2021 in New York City.

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SpotifyIn dispute with royalties, copyright and other issues, hundreds of comedy acts were removed from the streaming platform. Wall Street Journal reported.

A global rights administration company, Spoken Giants, is working with a group of high-profile comedians — including Tiffany Haddish, Jim Gaffigan, Kevin Hart and John Mulaney — to negotiate terms that would allow the comics to be paid when their work is paid on platforms like Spotify, SiriusXM, Pandora and YouTube, the Journal reported Saturday.

According to The Journal, the comedians seek to receive royalties for the “underlying composition copyrights for spoken-word media,” similar to how songwriters would get paid for music or lyrics.

Spotify removed the work of the comedians from the streaming platform after they met in an impasse.

CNBC obtained a Spotify statement saying that Spotify had paid “significant amounts of money” for the content. Spoken Giants disputes the rights to various licensors. Therefore, it is imperative that Spotify and Spoken Giants, the labels responsible for this content distribution, come to an agreement to address this matter to ensure that all content continues to be available to their fans.

Read more about the negotiations in The Wall Street Journal.

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