On Sept. 22, a California federal judge ruled that SiriusXM violated the public performance rights of pre-1972 recordings made by The Turtles. The judge’s decision to hold SiriusXM liable for infringing ownership rights and wrongfully taking away royalties has wide-ranging ramifications.
What’s the Issue?
The major labels and artists contend that digital radio services like SiriusXM and Pandora must pay for music they broadcast from master recordings made before 1972. The services argue that since the master recording copyright didn’t exist in federal law until 1972, they are only required to pay performance royalties for recordings made that year and after.
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Why Does This Currently Involve Only Digital Services?
Sirius would have to practice the same standards across the country as in California: stop playing the music or pay the royalty, because it can’t geo-block California from receiving its transmissions. On the other hand, it could devise a formula based on California subscribers and create a payment formula for that state alone.