When the Platforms Decide.
A federal lawsuit against DistroKid and Amazon is producing a documentary record that goes beyond unpaid royalties. Court filings now on the public docket raise a specific technical question: whether DistroKid’s own submission software predetermined the metadata value at the center of Amazon’s fraud defense.
The case is Albert v. DistroKid LLC et al, case number 1:25-cv-01705-KPF, Southern District of New York. Room Reports covered the initial filing and the March 13, 2026 opinion that allowed the breach of contract and third-party beneficiary claims to proceed. This report covers what has entered the public record since.
The UI Screenshot
On May 9, 2026, plaintiff Marcel Albert, professionally known as Marc Mysterio, filed a declaration under penalty of perjury authenticating a screen capture of the DistroKid song submission interface. The declaration is docketed as Document 67. The exhibit is Document 67-1.
The screenshot shows a single question presented to artists during the submission process: “Has this single been previously released?” Two options appear below it. The radio button next to “No” is filled. The radio button next to “Yes” is empty. No user action is depicted selecting that value.
Albert’s declaration states that “the DistroKid UI was programmatically configured to pre-select and default the response ‘No’ to the question: ‘Has this single been previously released?’”
Amazon’s answer to the complaint, filed April 24, 2026, asserts a fraud defense based on the allegation that Albert submitted deceptive metadata. The declaration and exhibit are now on the public docket.
The Email Record
Also filed as an exhibit to Albert’s omnibus motion is a summary of 25 email threads between Albert and DistroKid personnel, spanning August 2023 through September 2024. The threads document communications primarily with Sam Miller, identified in the filing as DistroKid’s Manager of Creator Services, and Mike Fink, identified as a DistroKid executive.
The summary, filed as Document 62-5, describes a consistent pattern: Albert would request approval for releases, edits, or redeliveries; Miller or Fink would approve them, typically the same day, without objection or warning. The filing states that no thread contains any warning, rejection, or statement that Albert’s practices violated any policy.
The summary identifies at least six approvals occurring after September 8, 2024, the date defendants allege suppression began.
Among the threads documented: on March 6, 2024, Albert informed Miller he had made mix version edits because Amazon’s backend was “very flaky.” Miller approved and resubmitted without hesitation or warning. The summary describes this exchange as containing Albert’s “direct admission of the precise practice later characterized by Amazon as ‘metadata abuse,’” processed without objection by DistroKid’s Manager of Creator Services.
The Amazon Confirmation
Filed as Document 62-6 is an April 18, 2024 email from Mark Austria, identified as Catalog Specialist at Amazon Music, to Albert. The email reads: “Optimizations have been processed: Play new music by Marc Mysterio = success✓ / Play the latest/new song by Marc Mysterio = success✓”
The filing characterizes this email as confirming that suppression of Albert’s artist profile at the Alexa voice level had been reversed with no admonishment and no mention of any alleged wrongdoing. The email followed a February 20, 2025 letter from Albert’s then-counsel to Austria requesting investigation of a repeated suppress-and-unsuppress pattern.
The Industry Ledger
Filed as Document 62-11 is a 62-page ledger from SpotOnTrack, described in the filing as an industry-standard repository endorsed by Sony, Warner, and UMG. The ledger documents releases under ISRC UKWLG2200055, the identifier for “I’m Good (Blue)” by David Guetta and Bebe Rexha, distributed by Warner Music Group.
The ledger shows the identical ISRC appearing across hundreds of distinct releases; singles, remixes, and compilation titles, spanning August 2022 through early 2026, with artist metadata intact throughout.
The filing argues this documents the same practice Amazon characterizes as fraud in Albert’s case, applied at major label scale without enforcement action.
Also filed as Document 62-9 is a screenshot from support.fuga.com, the support site for FUGA, described in the filing as a preferred Amazon distribution partner that helped develop the DDEX metadata standard Amazon uses.
The screenshot shows Amazon’s stated content policy listing “identical tracks repackaged under altered metadata” as prohibited content subject to rejection or suppression.
Albert’s filing argues that DistroKid received these guidelines and nonetheless manually approved the redeliveries documented in the email record.
Document 62-3 also includes Orchard chart data broadcast via Amazon’s API showing Marc Mysterio’s artist field rendered as blank across his song entries on the Amazon Daily Dance and Electronic chart, while the David Guetta and Bebe Rexha comparator entry on the same chart retains full artist metadata throughout.
Page 16: “Souls (Radio Edit)” — Artist field: blank
Page 17: “I’m Good (Blue)” — Artist field: “David Guetta, Bebe Rexha”
The Reconsideration Motion
On March 27, 2026, Amazon filed a motion for partial reconsideration of Judge Failla’s March 13 opinion, seeking to remove the indemnity clause from the court’s third-party beneficiary analysis.
On May 12, 2026, Judge Failla denied the motion. In her opinion and order, docketed as Document 71, the court found that Amazon had misread the March 13 opinion. The indemnity provision was not an independent ground for the third-party beneficiary holding. It was one factor among three. The court wrote that it used the provision narrowly — “as evidence that the Agreement did not explicitly foreclose the possibility of third-party claims.” The third-party beneficiary claim stands.
The Spoliation Allegation
On May 13, 2026, Albert filed a letter motion, docketed as Document 72, making three consolidated requests: an extension of the Rule 26(f) deadline to June 30, 2026 or 21 days after new counsel appears, a phased discovery structure, and a court statement regarding protective order standards applicable to pro se litigants.
Attached as Exhibit 3 to Document 72 is a screenshot of Albert’s DistroKid accounting dashboard. The screenshot shows all monetary fields displaying $0.00 across a date range of May 2022 through December 2024. Fields labeled “Total Earnings,” “Breakdown by Artist,” “Breakdown by Song,” and “Breakdown by Service” all show $0.00 or no data. Albert alleges in the motion that DistroKid deleted or wiped his account history and royalty statements and identifies spoliation as a threshold issue in the case.
The Discovery Targets
Document 72 names three individuals as primary deposition targets in the proposed initial phase of discovery: Sam Miller and Mike Fink at DistroKid, and Mark Austria, identified as Senior Catalog Manager at Amazon Music.
The motion states the initial phase is targeted to resolve whether DistroKid’s Song Submission UI defaults to “No” for the previously released question, how ISRC merging functions as an industry-standard reconciliation method, and the triggering criteria for Amazon’s “high-velocity alarms” including internal communications, Slack messages, email, and IAM engineer tickets regarding what Albert characterizes as an “unsuppression command” referenced in a Mark Austria email already on the docket.
The motion also states Albert was an Amazon Exclusive Artist at the time the alleged shadowban was implemented and that it remains in place as of the filing date.
The Rule 11 Clock
Documents 72-1 and 72-2, filed as exhibits to Document 72, are screenshots of emails sent by Albert on May 11, 2026 to counsel for both defendants. The emails document service of Rule 11 Safe Harbor letters: to Covington & Burling LLP on behalf of Amazon, and to Ritholz Levy Fields LLP on behalf of DistroKid. Both letters target the defendants’ respective Third Affirmative Defenses. Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11, defendants have 21 days from service to withdraw defenses identified as factually unsupported. That clock is running.
The Spotify Disclosure
On May 15, 2026, Albert filed a supplemental letter to Judge Failla, docketed as Document 73, raising four additional issues. Among them: Albert alleges that DistroKid has failed to file a Corporate Disclosure Statement as required by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 7.1, despite Spotify Technology S.A. holding a known equity stake in DistroKid. Albert cites Elton Newman v. DistroKid LLC, No. 1:20-cv-01541, a prior Southern District case in which DistroKid formally disclosed Spotify’s minority ownership. Albert requests the court require DistroKid to cure this default, stating the failure deprives the court of information needed for a mandatory conflict check.
Also filed on May 15, 2026 is Document 74, a blank Rule 7.1 Corporate Disclosure Statement form bearing the case caption. No party name, no attorney signature, and no substantive disclosures appear on the face of the filed document.
Document 73 additionally documents that Amazon’s counsel, Jonathan M. Sperling of Covington & Burling, informally requested by email a copy of Exhibit D: the Sony Music Finland correspondence filed in camera as part of Albert’s Omnibus Motion. Albert declined the request, arguing on the record that Covington already has access to the document through its own client, Sony Music Entertainment, in the parallel Southern District action Sony Music Ent. v. Rhapsody, No. 1:25-cv-06352. Albert argues this request creates a new record for the court to revisit the conflict of interest question Judge Failla previously declined to act on.
The court issued a deficiency notice on May 15, 2026 requiring DistroKid’s counsel to refile Document 74 with complete corporate parent and affiliate disclosures, confirming the filing was incomplete as Albert alleged.
The Current Posture
On May 7, 2026, Albert filed a pro se omnibus motion terminating his counsel for cause and notifying the court of a potential conflict of interest involving Amazon’s counsel at Covington & Burling. The conflict allegation centers on Covington’s concurrent representation of Sony Music and The Orchard in a separate Southern District action, and the argument that Covington cannot challenge the validity of data originating from its own clients in this case.
On May 11, 2026, Amazon’s counsel filed a letter, docketed as Document 64, characterizing Albert’s filings as “exceedingly difficult to comprehend” and asking the court to deny his requests without prejudice until he retains new counsel.
On May 12, 2026, Judge Failla issued an order on the omnibus motion. Counsel withdrawal was granted. Albert’s adjournment request was granted. The conflict of interest request was denied. Albert has until May 29, 2026 to notify the court whether he has retained new counsel or will proceed pro se. The case management deadline has been adjourned sine die.
Also on May 12, Albert was granted permission to file electronically in the case, docketed as Document 70.
The Counsel Ruling
On May 15, 2026, Judge Failla issued an additional order, docketed as Document 75, resolving the question held in abeyance from her May 12 order. After reviewing ex parte submissions from both Albert and his former counsel, the court determined that Albert’s termination of his attorney was without cause. The court found no evidence of lack of competence or abandonment. The order leaves open the possibility of setting charging and judicial lien amounts at a later date.
Statement from Plaintiff’s Publicist
Following Room Reports’ comment request, Padraig O’Connor of proboxingpr.com, Albert’s publicist, responded on Albert’s behalf. O’Connor stated that Albert “is thankful to the court for rejecting Amazon’s Motion for Reconsideration today, and allowing his newly submitted evidence submitted with the Omnibus Motion, and his sworn declaration that is both dispositive to his claims, and established that Amazon’s affirmative defenses relating to fraud are factually impossible and fail as a matter of law.”
O’Connor confirmed that Albert is currently acting as his own interim counsel and has directed press inquiries to O’Connor. Law firms interested in representing Albert may contact info@proboxingpr.com.
Room Reports contacted Amazon and DistroKid for comment. Neither responded by the deadline given or time of publication.
The documentation is public. The sources are held and available upon request.
Room Reports is an independent publication covering the industries and systems that determine whether creators own what they make.