PRS sues Steam for using music without a licence – for 23 years

In the latest skirmish between big tech and the music industry, video game platform Steam is being sued by PRS, the UK's music rights collection authority, for using music without a licence.

It’s an action that has been a long time coming. Since launching in 2003, Valve has never obtained a licence for its use of rights-managed music. They’ve had plenty of time to sort it out.

Valve - Steam's owner - is a big player in the video games market. Its digital distribution service encompasses 75% of the PC gaming market, with 147 million monthly user and over 120,000 games.

Many of those are some of the biggest video games of all time – including the FIFA/ EA FC series and Grand Theft Auto, which you'll know, even if you are casually acquainted with the gaming world, feature a significant presence of music.

The PRS has said that they have made efforts across “many years” to come to an agreement with the games platform similar to the ones they have in place with Sony Interactive Gaming and Microsoft Gaming, despite the alleged absence of “appropriate engagement from Valve.”

They’ve confirmed that the legal action will go ahead “unless Valve Corporation engages positively with discussions and takes the necessary license to cover the use of PRS repertoire, both retrospectively and moving forwards.”

Dan Gopal, the Chief Commercial Officer of PRS For Music said in a statement: “Our members create music that enhances experiences and PRS exists to protect the value of their work with integrity, transparency, and fairness.

Legal proceedings are not a step we take lightly, but when a business’s actions undermine those principles, we have a duty to act. Great video games rely on great soundtracks, and the songwriters and creators behind them deserve to have their contribution recognised and fairly valued.”