Although the ruling is clear, its impact is not. The case centers on discrepancies between state and federal music-licensing laws, resulting in lack of clear and consistent regulation.
On the federal side, which has informed Sirius’ use of certain recordings, there is no copyright protection for music released before February 15, 1972 — the date when the current U.S. Copyright Act was put into law. In what could be considered a startling lack of hindsight, the law disregards sound recording rights for earlier work.
State laws are not as demarcated, but suffer from multiple interpretations, and the obvious problem of 50 states. Because state laws provide openings for argument, whereas the federal copyright law is clear-cut, the state courts have become venues for labels, artists, and lobbying groups to seek legal judgments in support of the larger cause of federalizing protection for oldies.
The California decision is ground-shaking for being the first clear judgment of pre-1972 music viability in the context of copyright, and the case is not yet complete. Damages will be set next month. The plaintiffs are asking for $100-million. In Sirius XM’s most recent quarterly earning report (Q2 2014), the balance sheet showed $1-billion in gross revenue, $120-million in net income, and a stock re-purchase plan that had spent $1.6-billion so far in 2014.
Those numbers make this a major-league case, and represent merely the starting point of speculation about this issue’s future. Other states have legal actions in progress, brought against both Sirius XM and Pandora by labels, and by SoundExchange, the agency which collects and distributes music royalties from digital services on behalf of labels and performers. The Turtles class action is simultaneously proceeding in Florida and New York.
As the wagons circle, it’s no surprise that Pandora and Sirius XM have both publicly stated that they favor establishing federal copyright protection for pre-1972 recordings, even as they fight potentially damaging assaults in state courts.
Michael Huppe, CEO of SoundExchange, unsurprisingly agrees. “It is clear now more than ever that Congress should quickly move to pass the RESPECT Act,” Huppe declared. The RESPECT Act is a proposed bill in the U.S. House of Representatives that would correct the pre-1972 oversight.