RBX Appeals Spotify Bot-Streaming Lawsuit Dismissal

RBX has taken his bot-streaming fight with Spotify to a federal appeals court, extending a case that a Los Angeles judge dismissed last month.

The Long Beach rapper filed an appeal after U.S. District Judge Josephine L. Staton ended his amended class-action lawsuit with prejudice. The federal docket lists a November 6 notice of appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

RBX, whose legal name is Eric Collins, sued Spotify in 2025.

He alleged that the streaming company allowed artificial plays to distort the royalty pool and reduce payments to independent artists. His complaint cited suspicious activity involving Drake’s catalog as one example. Spotify was the sole defendant.

The dispute moved through two versions of the complaint. Judge Staton dismissed the first version in June and gave RBX time to amend it.

He returned in July with broader allegations about selective enforcement of Spotify’s anti-fraud rules and the effect that bot activity could have on artists who rely on the same royalty pool.

The revised complaint still failed to clear the legal bar. In the October order, Judge Staton found that RBX had not pleaded enough facts to support his unfair-competition and negligence claims. She entered judgment for Spotify after dismissing the case with prejudice.

AllHipHop covered that ruling, which closed the case at the trial-court level. The new filing moves the fight to the Ninth Circuit, where RBX can challenge the legal reasoning behind the dismissal.

The appeal keeps a larger music-industry issue in view. Streaming services have tightened enforcement against artificial plays, while independent artists have questioned how platforms detect fraud and protect royalty pools.

RBX built his case around the argument that enforcement was uneven and harmed artists outside the biggest commercial catalogs.

The appellate court will review the record made before Judge Stanton.

RBX’s lawyers can argue that the complaint met the legal standard and that the case should return to the district court for more proceedings. Spotify will have a chance to defend the judgment.

The notice of appeal begins the next stage of the case. The Ninth Circuit will set the briefing schedule and decide whether to affirm the dismissal.