Apple, Google, Sony Sued Over Pre-1972 Songs

Digital-music services that play oldies without compensating the performers are facing mounting challenges, as the owner of recordings by Hot Tuna, New Riders of the Purple Sage and the Flying Burrito Brothers has filed lawsuits against several online music service operators including Apple Inc., Google Inc. and Sony Corp. for using songs recorded before 1972 without permission.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the company that says it owns these bands’ recordings, Zenbu Magazines LLC, is seeking class-action status for suits filed in U.S. District Court in Northern California, arguing that services such as Apple’s free iTunes Radio, and Sony’s Music Unlimited—which charges many subscribers $10 a month—have copied tens of thousands of so-called pre-1972 recordings onto their servers, transmitted them and performed them without seeking permission or paying performance royalties or licensing fees to the copyright owners.

The lawsuit against Sony claims that Zenbu and other members of the purported class are likely owed “many millions of dollars,” though the exact amount has yet to be determined.

Sound recordings weren’t brought under the protection of federal copyright law until 1972. So earlier recordings, until now, have been protected by a patchwork of state laws, including California’s, and most digital music services haven’t been paying performance royalties to artists to play these older works.