The Hollywood Reporter:

A huge lawsuit against SiriusXM over its performance of pre-1972 sound recordings is officially no longer just about Flo & Eddie of The Turtles. On Wednesday, the high-stakes litigation took another major step forward after U.S. District Judge Philip Gutierrez granted a motion for class certification.

This means that the lawsuit will now cover pretty much anyone who owns a pre-1972 sound recording, assuming the song got played on SiriusXM’s satellite radio service after August 21, 2009. It also means that SiriusXM is facing a potential monster legal bill. The judge appears to favor the plaintiffs’ damage theory that they be awarded 100 percent of SiriusXM’s revenues attributable to pre-1972 recordings without deductions for costs.

This has been a long time coming. To understand the importance of the year 1972 in music rights, take a read of this article from Digital Music News.

From the article:

Federal copyright law applies to sound recordings but only to those produced on or after February 15, 1972. Those older recordings are protected by individual states’ statutes or common law. Pandora and Sirius argue that since federal law does not apply to such recordings the DPRA (Digital Performance Right in Sound Recordings Act of 1995), which created a right of public performance for sound recording when transmitted digitally, does not apply to pre-1972 recordings and that therefore, they do not need permission from the owners of the copyrights in such sound recordings or the artists who performed on them.

In simple terms, is it fair that music recorded before Feb 15th, 1972 is not protected? In other words, should Pandora, Sirius/XM, etc. not have to pay musicians because their music was recorded before a certain date?

This lawsuit has far reaching implications, especially if you are a fan of classic rock/older music.

[H/T Brother Stu]