Spotify defeated the lawsuit from their US licensing group which accused them of allegedly underpaying songwriting royalties for tens of millions. New York federal judge, Analisa Torres, dismissed the case on Wednesday, January 29th.

According to Reuters, the lawsuit was originally filed on Thursday, May 16th by the royalty-gathering nonprofit Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC), which claimed that Spotify underreported its revenue by nearly half in order to avoid paying millions of dollars that it owes to the group.

The MLC brought the lawsuit after Spotify added audiobooks as part of its streaming service. MLC claimed that the streaming platform wrongly recharacterized its Premium service as a bundle of listening to music and audiobooks that could potentially reduce the music royalties it pays. Despite the fact there was “no change to [Spotify’s] Premium plan and no corresponding reduction to the revenues that Spotify generates.”

The complaint referred to a Billboard report that estimated Spotify could cost songwriters nearly $150 million within the same year due to this change. However, Judge Torres ruled that Spotify described its service correctly. 

“Under the facts as alleged, audiobook streaming is a product or service that is distinct from music streaming and has more than token value” … “Premium is, therefore, properly categorized as a Bundle and the allegations of the complaint do not plausibly suggest otherwise,” said Torres.

In a statement from MLC, they said they were reviewing the decision and looking for other available options, including their right to appeal. A Spotify spokesperson said the company was pleased with the outcome.