Appeals Court Rules In Favor Of Pandora

• Court rules against ASCAP For Higher Rates

A federal appeals court in Manhattan rejected appeals by a music licensing group and music publishers that could have forced Internet radio service Pandora Media Inc to pay higher royalties and have access to fewer songs, according to a Reuters report.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday rejected an effort by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) to increase the rate that Pandora must pay to license its music from 2013 to 2015.

It also said rules governing ASCAP licensing "unambiguously" barred music publishers from negotiating higher rates for their works with "new media" music users such as Pandora, even as ASCAP licensed the same works to other users.

Vivendi SA's Universal Music Publishing, Sony/ATV Music Publishing and EMI Music Publishing had withdrawn their new media licensing rights from ASCAP, while retaining membership in that group.

The decision is a defeat for publishers and songwriters who believe that growth in streaming music has resulted in unfairly low licensing rates. Under a 1941 antitrust consent decree, ASCAP rate disputes are reviewed in Manhattan federal court.

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