As reported yesterday, Pandora has prevailed in an appeal case brought by ASCAP, which sought to overturn a court judgment in March, 2014.
According to RAIN newsletter, at stake was the royalty percentage owed by Pandora to the American Society of Composers and Publishers for the 2011-2015 period. Additionally, publishers were (and still are, in other venues) battling for freedom from Consent Decrees — 60-year-old laws which provide blanket licenses for use of composed music by Pandora (as well as other streamers and radio stations). Music publishers want to negotiate digital rights separately from other ASCAP representation, which is disallowed by law.
On that key argument, the appeals court ruled decidedly that it could not rewrite the law, and publishers are beholden to the Consent Decrees. Because of that, ASCAP’s appeal for retroactively higher royalty rates was categorically denied. Last year RAIN News estimated that Pandora saved about $21-million dollars by winning the original case.
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