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Thursday, September 12, 2013

Big 3 Record Companies Now Suing SiriusXM

On Wednesday, the three largest record companies — Sony, Universal and Warner, along with ABKCO, an independent that controls many of the Rolling Stones’ early music rights — sued Sirius XM Radio in a California court, saying that the satellite service used recordings from before 1972 without permission, according to the NY Times.

Even though federal copyright protection does not apply to these recordings, the suits say that they are still covered by state law.

The suit is the third major complaint filed against Sirius XM in five weeks. The band the Turtles — whose song “Happy Together” was a No. 1 hit in 1967 — and the royalty agency SoundExchange filed similar suits last month, each seeking as much as $100 million in damages. The suit filed on Wednesday, in Los Angeles Superior Court, seeks unspecified damages and a declaratory judgment about the rights involved in pre-1972 recordings.

“It is disgraceful, unfair, and probably criminal that Sirius XM is stealing monies due to me and other performing artists,” the singer Judy Collins said in a statement. “Performers should be paid their fair share of the royalties from their songs.”

Among other artists mentioned in the suit are the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Frank Sinatra and the Supremes.

A spokesman for Sirius XM declined to comment.

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