NoCopyrightSounds has scored an important win in its legal battle with former distributor AEI Music. The High Court in London has ordered AEI to make an interim payment of £1.4 million, plus interest, to the label ahead of a full trial due in January 2028.
The court also ordered AEI and NCS’s former sub-publisher, Featherstone Music, to provide interim accounts setting out the debt owed to the label, as well as sums retained after the relationship ended that were due to NCS artists and songwriters. According to Simkins, the law firm representing NCS, the court found that even on the defendants’ own evidence the debt stands at a minimum of £4.5 million. After giving interim credit for AEI’s counterclaims, it settled on £1.4 million, an approach the court itself described as generous to the defendants.
“The court found that there was no real dispute that AEI Music owes NCS very substantial sums,” Simkins said. At trial, it will seek a further sum of around £5 million plus a full account.
AEI Music Group says it intends to seek permission to appeal, stressing that its counterclaims remain to be resolved. Co-founder Diluk Dias said: “We are proud of what we built together with NCS and saddened that a very close working relationship should come to this. This is a classic example of a dispute which ultimately would be best resolved by mediation.” AEI, whose brands include UKF and Drum&BassArena, remains a 25.25% shareholder in NCS.
Founded by Billy Woodford in 2011, NCS lets creators use its music for free in exchange for credit, and its catalogue of over 1,500 tracks had passed 500 billion plays by 2024. Its releases include Alan Walker’s 2014 breakout ‘Fade’. Read the full statement from Simkins.
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