Home > posts > In Property Rights Victory, Court Rules Digital Radio Must Compensate Artists for Playing Pre-1972 Songs
September 26th, 2014 1:30 pm
In Property Rights Victory, Court Rules Digital Radio Must Compensate Artists for Playing Pre-1972 Songs
Posted by Print

Last June, we highlighted important legislation proposed by Rep. George Holding (R – North Carolina) by asking a straightforward question: “Is it fair that digital radio broadcasters pay royalties for the privilege of playing songs recorded after the arbitrary date of February 15, 1972, but not for pre-1972 recordings?”

This week provided welcome news out of California, as a court correctly answered “no” to that question.

Here is the basic legal issue, as we wrote in June:

Recordings predating 1972 remain protected by a patchwork of state laws, whereas recordings after February 15 of that year going forward are covered under federal law.  That amounts to a historical idiosyncrasy, without any prevailing substantive logic.  But digital radio stations, some of which center entirely upon pre-1972 music, have capitalized on the legal aberration to simply stop paying for performance of the pre-1972 songs still covered by state laws…

Digital radio stations operate under privilege of federal license to broadcast, but take the position that they need not pay for pre-1972 songs that remain protected under state laws.  They profit from playing those songs, but refuse to pay accordingly.  Keep in mind that unlike contemporary performers, many of those older affected artists are no longer capable of touring, and sales of their records have diminished over the years, leaving royalties for performance of their songs as their only remaining means of continuing compensation.”

The proposed federal legislation to rectify that anomaly remains pending, but a court applying one among the patchwork of existing state laws referenced above ruled in accord with the bill’s goal.  In fact, the California court in question granted summary judgment, meaning that it didn’t consider the legal question worthy of going before a jury:

In the battle between today’s digital-music services and yesterday’s oldies artists, score one for the geezers.  The founders of the ’60s rock band the Turtles won a summary judgment on Monday against Sirius XM Radio Inc., in a lawsuit alleging that the satellite-radio company violated California copyright law by playing the band’s songs without permission.  The decision could entitle the band and other oldies acts to royalties from the satellite-radio broadcaster as well as from Internet radio companies like Pandora Media Inc.  Terrestrial radio broadcasters in the U.S. don’t pay royalties to performers of songs but the decision could affect their obligation to do so.”

This is a welcome and correct ruling, but the fact remains that artists shouldn’t have to sue across 50 various states, with inconsistent legal venues, to vindicate their property rights.  Digital radio is a fantastic technological advance, but that doesn’t justify exploitation of legal quirks to dodge compensation to artists who recorded songs prior to the arbitrary date of February 15, 1972.  Hopefully, federal lawmakers follow the court’s wisdom and streamline federal law to resolve this troublesome issue.

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