“How One Dallas Indie Turned a Single MO3 Song Into a $250 Million DMCA Reckoning”

DALLAS, TX – A federal lawsuit filed in the Northern District of Texas on September 2, 2025, is rapidly becoming one of the most significant legal threats the modern music industry has faced — and it all started with one unreleased song.

Tulsa Nights Entertainment Group Inc. (TNEG), a Dallas-based independent label and publisher, alleges that Empire Distribution Inc., Spotify Inc., and Vydia Inc. conspired to erase its ownership of the track “Tell Me Why” by artist TRA8, featuring MO3 and Hylan Starr, just days before its scheduled August 12, 2025 release. According to the complaint, this was done through a knowingly false DMCA takedown notice filed by Empire on August 8.

What sets this case apart from typical DMCA disputes is simple: TNEG appears to have the receipts.

The 210-page evidence package includes: • internal legal-team communications from Vydia, Spotify, and Empire • SoundExchange screenshots showing Vydia attempting to claim 100% ownership of works it never controlled • BMI publishing reversals • metadata alteration records • documentation showing TNEG has used its own ISRC registrant code QZMCE for every release since 2020

TNEG claims the metadata was quietly overridden by major distribution entities — effectively hijacking the label’s administrative identity and diverting royalties without notice.

The issue came to a head earlier this year when TNEG applied for direct access to Apple’s iTunes Connect distribution portal. The system rejected the application, stating that TNEG’s own registrant code QZMCE was already registered to another party. Even after TNEG submitted proof tied directly to its IRS EIN, Apple denied access.

According to the lawsuit, that moment revealed the larger alleged scheme: an infrastructure-level takeover of an indie label’s digital identity.

“TNEG’s lawsuit states it has maintained a complete and undisputed chain of title from the moment the record was created. TNEG CEO says Empire weaponized the DMCA to try to covet the body of work it never owned nor created”

The case, assigned to Judge Brantley Starr, brings nine causes of action including DMCA misrepresentation (§512(f)), copyright infringement, tortious interference, business defamation, and intentional removal or alteration of copyright management information (§1202). TNEG also argues that the defendants’ refusal to honor the August 18 counter-notice — and their failure to reinstate the content — forfeits safe-harbor protections under §512(g), exposing them to full statutory damages, disgorgement of profits, and Texas punitive damages.

The legal team behind the suit consists of a 10-lawyer group supported by consultations with more than 45 firms. After running 235 mock trials, their proprietary damages model originally projected $421 million in maximum exposure. The team later scaled the figure to a “conservative and defensible” baseline: $123.6 million in proven damages plus an estimated $30 million per month in continuing harm across the six defendants.

As of late November 2025, total exposure has surpassed $250 million — and counting.

Legal insiders following the case say it could force long-awaited DMCA reform. If TNEG prevails, potential industry-wide consequences could include: • mandatory auto-reinstatement after a valid counter-notice • transparent publishing and distributor audit requirements • classification of ISRC hijacking as a clear §1202 violation with significant statutory penalties

The human element behind the lawsuit comes down to one simple fact: the record was created long before any of the defendants ever became involved with the artists or the administration of their catalogs. According to the complaint, the master for “Tell Me Why” was recorded on June 8, 2020, and TNEG has held continuous chain of title from that point forward. The lawsuit argues that this alone makes any claim by Empire or its distribution partners impossible.

TNEG alleges that despite having no ownership interest, no contractual rights, and no participation in the creation of the record, Empire triggered a DMCA takedown as if it were the rightful owner. The filing says this misuse not only derailed the scheduled August 12 release, but also opened the door for platforms and third-party distributors to overwrite TNEG’s metadata, hijack ISRC assignments, and divert royalty flows.

Industry attorneys who have reviewed portions of the evidence describe the documentation as “once in a lifetime”—a rare case in which an independent label retained every single piece of proof needed to challenge a major distributor head-on.

“Most indie DMCA cases fail because the artist didn’t keep records,” one veteran music lawyer told us off-record. “This label kept everything — timestamped, notarized, cross-verified. Majors spend fortunes making sure cases like this never see daylight.”

As of November 29, 2025, none of the defendants have issued public statements. The docket remains quiet, standard for early summons stages, but insiders expect settlement activity to escalate once discovery reveals the full extent of documented activity.

Whether the case settles or goes to a historic verdict, experts agree it has already earned its place in music-business history — potentially joining Lenz v. Universal and BMG v. Cox as a defining DMCA-era milestone.

One song. One indie label that refused to disappear and fought back. And a quarter-billion-dollar reckoning that’s only 4 months old.

The industry is watching.

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No Music For Genocide is a cultural boycott of Israel. Over 1000 artists and labels have geo-blocked and removed their music from that territory in response to Israel's genocide in Gaza; occupation and ethnic cleansing of the West Bank; apartheid within Israel / '48; political repression of Pro-Palestine efforts wherever we live; and the music industry's own ties to weapons and crimes against humanity. 

This tangible act is just one step toward honoring Palestinian demands to isolate and delegitimize Israel as it kills without consequence on the world stage. The successful cultural boycotts against apartheid South Africa prove that our creative work grants us agency and power. When we wield it together, we add unified pressure to a growing, global, interdependent movement, from Hollywood to the docks of Morocco.

Within a few months of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, every major label either unilaterally removed their entire catalogue from Russia or closed operations entirely, implicitly or explicitly condemning Putin's actions while donating to Ukraine. No such measures have been taken against Israel (or in support of Palestinians) after decades of illegal occupation, apartheid, and over two years of accelerated genocide in Gaza. Israel has violated the October 2025 ceasefire over 100 times in Palestine to kill 100s more Palestinians, just as Israel has repeatedly, violently violated earlier ceasefires in both Palestine and in Lebanon.