AceShowbiz - Rapper RBX has seen his class action lawsuit against Spotify dismissed, AllHipHop reports. The suit accused Spotify of ignoring automated bots that artificially boosted streams, diverting royalties from independent artists to major performers. However, U.S. District Judge Josephine Staton rejected both claims on June 22, ruling that Spotify does not owe a special legal duty to protect RBX from bot-generated streams.

Dancehallmag also covered the dismissal, noting that the judge was skeptical of RBX’s focus on streams of Drake in particular, explaining that concentrating on one artist made it difficult to evaluate RBX’s or the class’s financial harm. The court further found RBX’s allegations regarding Spotify benefiting from inflated bot traffic too speculative to proceed. Billboard detailed that RBX’s lawyers argued Spotify’s anti-fraud measures were ineffective and that the platform profited from increased ad revenue tied to fake streams, but the judge dismissed these points as insufficient. RBX now has 21 days to amend and refile the complaint if he wishes to continue with the case.

RBX singled out DrakeDrake’s streams as a key example of the alleged fraud, with claims that some accounts streamed the artist’s music for nearly 23 hours daily and that a small fraction of listeners accounted for a disproportionately large share of his total streams. While the lawsuit did not accuse Drake of wrongdoing, it contended that bot-generated plays inflated his numbers and suppressed smaller artists within Spotify’s algorithm.

This dismissal follows a similar bot-related lawsuit against Spotify that was thrown out last month, illustrating ongoing legal challenges surrounding streaming fraud on the platform. The controversy intensified amid a public dispute between Drake and Kendrick Lamar, which sparked broader questions about the legitimacy of streaming counts. Spotify has responded by enhancing its detection and removal of fraudulent streams, though it remains uncertain whether these efforts will fully eradicate the issue or push it further underground.

This article is based on reporting originally published by AllHipHop.