Post by lowbasso on Sept 24, 2014 12:12:19 GMT -5
Article in today's (9/24/2014) Wall Street Journal about a landmark case involving 60's band;
"The Turtles won a summary judgement on Monday against Sirius-XM radio. They sued the radio company for not paying them royalties for airing the band's songs on their channels.
Terrestrial and satellite radio stations in the USA don't pay royalties to performers of songs recorded before 1972. That is because sound recordings were not brought within the scope of US federal copyright protection until 1972. Older recordings are only protected under a patchwork of US State laws.
In the case of The Turtles lawsuit, they asserted Sirius-XM violated California copyright law by playing their songs without their permission. A US Federal judge ruled that by playing their songs in California, Sirius-XM violated state law.
Oldies songs on Sirius-XM account for an estimated 10-15% of the nationwide satellite company's total airplay. Sirius-XM sets aside the revenue generated by these pre-1972 spins before it calculates the royalties it owes performers and songwriters - a percentage, set by the federal government, of the subsription fees its customers pay and other revenue such as ad sales.
This judgement could have implications for so-called legacy artists across the board, with similar legal cases under way across the country. It also opens the doors for legal action against other companies that have not been paying digital royalties on pre-1972 recordings, including Pandora, and terrestrial radio stations.
The Turtles have similar cases against Sirius-XM pending in New York and Florida.
It is a huge win for these older artists who rely on performance royalties to survive. They are not getting any significant record sales anymore.
The issue moved to the forefront only recently as revenue from digital services have balooned."
I know I was not aware of this situation....
"The Turtles won a summary judgement on Monday against Sirius-XM radio. They sued the radio company for not paying them royalties for airing the band's songs on their channels.
Terrestrial and satellite radio stations in the USA don't pay royalties to performers of songs recorded before 1972. That is because sound recordings were not brought within the scope of US federal copyright protection until 1972. Older recordings are only protected under a patchwork of US State laws.
In the case of The Turtles lawsuit, they asserted Sirius-XM violated California copyright law by playing their songs without their permission. A US Federal judge ruled that by playing their songs in California, Sirius-XM violated state law.
Oldies songs on Sirius-XM account for an estimated 10-15% of the nationwide satellite company's total airplay. Sirius-XM sets aside the revenue generated by these pre-1972 spins before it calculates the royalties it owes performers and songwriters - a percentage, set by the federal government, of the subsription fees its customers pay and other revenue such as ad sales.
This judgement could have implications for so-called legacy artists across the board, with similar legal cases under way across the country. It also opens the doors for legal action against other companies that have not been paying digital royalties on pre-1972 recordings, including Pandora, and terrestrial radio stations.
The Turtles have similar cases against Sirius-XM pending in New York and Florida.
It is a huge win for these older artists who rely on performance royalties to survive. They are not getting any significant record sales anymore.
The issue moved to the forefront only recently as revenue from digital services have balooned."
I know I was not aware of this situation....