The Turtles Win Class Action Certification In SiriusXM Copyright Lawsuit, Opening Door For Others; Forbes, 5/28/15

Nomi Prins, Forbes; The Turtles Win Class Action Certification In SiriusXM Copyright Lawsuit, Opening Door For Others:

"Legally, theses suits hinge on the demarcation between federal and state copyright laws. Under Section 114 of the federal Copyright Act, there is a statute of limitations on exclusive rights to recordings made on or after February 15, 1972. SiriusXM and others are operating legally under that law. Certain state laws, on the other hand, cover pre-1972 recordings. The Turtles have filed class-action suits against SiriusXM in California, Florida and New York, requesting more than $100 million in damages.

Granting this suit class action status leaves the door wide open for other artists with pre-1972 recordings to enter the class. The result could be substantial settlements, or many years of litigation, or both."

SiriusXM Copyright Battle: What Does the Latest Ruling Mean for Digital Music?; Billboard, 9/23/14

Ed Christman, Billboard; SiriusXM Copyright Battle: What Does the Latest Ruling Mean for Digital Music? :

"The U.S. Federal Court decision that SiriusXM violated the Turtles' pre-1972 master copyrights by playing their music without licensing it or paying performance royalties is a big win for the music industry, but does it have meaning beyond California where the legal battle took place?

Like all lawsuit decisions, the ruling may have legal implications for other ongoing court cases, but the ruling has just decided a battle, not the war.

That war centers on whether SiriusXM and other digital music services like Pandora, have the right to play pre-1972 recorded music without licensing nor paying royalties to record labels and the artists because -- those services argue -- the master recording copyright didn't exist until 1972 in federal law. Digital service, as part of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, must pay master recordings rights-holders and music publishers for broadcast, unlike terrestrial radio, which only has to pay royalties to publishers. But Sirius only pays for recordings created after 1972 when federal law recognized the master recording copyright."