Spotify hit with $1.6 billion lawsuit from L.A. music publisher; Faraday Future founder defies Beijing order to return home; and SpaceX launching top-secret Zuma satellite for U.S. government this week.

Spotify Hit with $1.6 Billion Lawsuit from L.A. Music Publisher

Spotify has been hit with a $1.6 billion lawsuit from Wixen Music Publishing, which handles titles by Tom Petty, Neil Young, Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen, Weezer’s Rivers Cuomo, Stevie Nicks, among others, Variety reports. The suit alleges that Spotify is using thousands of songs without a proper license, and is seeking damages worth at least $1.6 billion and injunctive relief.

Faraday Future Founder Defies Beijing Order to Return Home

Jia Yueting, founder and financier of troubled electric car manufacturer Faraday Future, defied orders from a Beijing securities regulator to return to China to deal with debt problems related to his internet company, LeEco, The Business Journal reports. Yueting posted instead a response on Chinese social media platform WeChat in which he said he asked his wife and younger brother to take care of the company’s financial problems as he would remain in the United States to “do everything he could to solve any debt problems with both the listed and unlisted companies.”

SpaceX Launching Top-Secret Zuma Satellite for U.S. Government This Week

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to launch Zuma, a top-secret U.S. government satellite, between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. (Eastern) on Jan. 5 from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Space.com reports. The liftoff was originally planned for mid-November, but SpaceX pushed the launch date back to study data from a recent payload-fairing test performed for another customer.

Technology reporter Garrett Reim can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @garrettreim for the latest in L.A. tech news.