Music Reports to administer pre-1972 license for Sirius XM

Sirius XM logo canvasThe latest development in the unfolding legal story between Sirius XM and Flo & Eddie is about the background paperwork. Music Reports has been chosen as the royalty administrator for a ten-year license for the satellite radio company’s use of Flo & Eddie’s recording catalog and other recordings from prior to 1972. Music Reports will also give technical, consulting, and copyright research support related to vetting retroactive copyright claims.

“We’re very pleased to have been chosen by both the class action counsel and Sirius XM to provide the technology and systems needed to support this settlement,” said Bill Colitre, Music Reports’ vice president and general counsel. “As a neutral transaction platform, Music Reports is ideally suited to the support of music industry settlements generally, and our seventeen years of experience with sound recording performance rights administration in the U.S. has well prepared us for this job specifically.”

This case centers on Flo & Eddie, the company representing the surviving members of 1960s band The Turtles. The performers have been seeking royalties for use of their songs by Sirius XM. The recordings pre-date the passage of federal copyright law, and Flo & Eddie argue there were state-level protections that should grant them royalties. Most recently, Sirius XM secured a win from an appeals judge for the case in New York.

Anna Washenko