Major Labels Win $50 Million Judgement Against Mixtape Host Spinrilla

A slate of major labels represented by the Recording Industry Association of America—including Atlantic, Sony, Warner, Roc A Fella, and others—have won a $50 million judgement in a copyright infringement case against the mixtape hosting platform Spinrilla. Judge Amy Totenberg, of the Northern District Court of Georgia handed down the ruling, viewed by Pitchfork, which further dictated that the site must shut down on Monday, May 8, at 12 a.m.

Spinrilla was launched as an iOS app in 2013, expanding to Android the next year. The platform was primarily used by independent rappers to distribute their mixtapes, some of which used sampled material that had not been cleared with copyright holders. The RIAA filed a lawsuit on behalf of labels in 2017, claiming that Spinrilla had illegally hosted copyrighted material, advertised the infringed material on the site, and that it continued to host the content even after being alerted to violations. 

Nearly 4,100 recordings were ultimately determined eligible for consideration in the case. Judge Totenberg ruled in 2020 that Spinrilla was liable for direct copyright infringement on those recordings.