Sirius to pay $210m over pre-1972 recordings
US radio station SiriusXM has settled a copyright dispute with some of the country’s major record companies and will fork out $210 million in compensation for playing songs recorded before 1972.
Sirius was sued by Sony, Universal, Warner, Capitol and ABKCO Music and Records at the Los Angeles Superior Court late last year for playing the songs without authorisation.
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), which filed the lawsuit on behalf of the record labels, said that the settlement—agreed on Monday, June 29—provides “a nationwide resolution” for Sirius’s use of pre-1972 recordings.
Under US law, works that predate 1972 fall outside the federal Copyright Act of 1976.
According to the record labels their works were protected against unauthorised duplication under the state of California’s Civil Code.
It had looked as though the case would proceed to trial after Judge Mary Strobel accepted the plaintiffs’ motion to instruct the jury that California law does protect pre-1972 recordings.
Strobel added that the law “must be interpreted to recognise ... public performance rights in pre-1972 sound recordings”.
Under the terms of the settlement, the broadcaster will have a licence to use the record companies’ pre-1972 catalogue until the end of 2017.
Cary Sherman, chair of the RIAA, said: “This is a great step forward for all music creators. Music has tremendous value, whether it was made in 1970 or 2015. We hope others take note of this important agreement and follow Sirius’s example.”
In a separate case but involving the same issue, Sirius was found liable in September last year for infringing copyright belonging to 1960s rock band The Turtles.
That case was brought last year by Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman, the former frontmen of the band, who sued Sirius under their stage names ‘Flo’ and ‘Eddie’.
Following the verdict, a new development occurred just last month when Judge Philip Gutierrez at the US District Court for the Central District of California granted the pair’s request for a class action lawsuit.
It allows any parties that believe their pre-1972 copyrighted works have been infringed by Sirius to claim damages by adding their name to the lawsuit.
Sirius, which describes itself as “the world’s leading radio broadcaster”, provides news, music, sports and entertainment.
It has around 24 million subscribers and its content is available via satellite, the internet, and on smart phones and other connected devices.
Sirius had not responded to a request for comment at the time of publication, but we will update the story should the company get in touch.
