It was a shock to me that Michelle Phan is sued for copyright infringement because almost every YouTubers uses music from an artist and credit back either on the video or in the description box.

This breaking news came yesterday. All I know was Michelle is being sued but I have no idea what for. So I did some checking and it turns out that electronic dance music label, Ultra Records LLC and Ultra International Music Publishing LLC, which represents some of the biggest DJs in the world including Steve Aoki, Benny Benassi, Calvin Harris, and David Guetta, is alleging that Michelle used a host of its artist’s songs in her videos without a license and is profiting from it. She currently have near 6.7 million followers on YouTube and reportedly earned 5 million in 2013.

According to the case filed on Wednesday in the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, Kaskade who is a globally renowned U.S. DJ who was nominated for a Grammy last year is an artist she frequently uses. The complaint also added that the label has only begun its search of Michelle’s online productions and has uncovered dozens of infringements so far, with views more than 150 million.

(Kaskade “4AM” in Night Life Favorites with 1.4 million views)

According to the report from Reuters, the plaintiffs said Michelle had been informed she did not possess a licence “and yet continues to willfully infringe in blatant disregard of Plaintiff’s rights of ownership”. The record label and music publisher contend Michelle has profited from the use of their artists’ tracks and compilations so the companies are seeking an injunction to stop Michelle from using their music and either maximum statutory damages of $150,000 for each infringed work or unspecified damages to be determined.

Source here and here.