The US's National Music Publishers Association yesterday launched litigation against American satellite broadcaster XM in the ongoing dispute about satellite radio services that allow users to store music and listen back to it on demand. The lawsuit from the publishers follows months of negotiations between the broadcaster and the publishing sector regarding the service, and also mirrors similar action against the same service by the recorded music industry.
As previously reported, the issue is the facility certain XM radio receivers offer whereby users can store tracks off the satellite service's stations, and listen back to them on demand at anytime providing their XM subscription is valid. The music industry argues that the broadcast licences XM has from collecting societies like ASCAP and BMI do not cover that service, which is more in the domain of Napster style subscription based download platforms - which are covered by entirely different licensing agreements.
Confirming his organisation was now taking the dispute to court, NMPA's CEO David Israelite told reporters this week: "We've read that XM paid Oprah $55 million to develop content. Yet they haven't paid one penny to creators of music for copies on these devices".
Legal action by the record industry on the same dispute is ongoing, with the record labels winning an initial victory in January when XM failed to have the case dismissed. There is a chance the record and publishing industry's action could now be merged into one court case.
XM maintain that they are not violating any copyrights because all the services they offer are covered by their broadcast licences. Responding to the NMPA's lawsuit, a spokesman for the broadcaster said this week: "The lawsuit filed by the NMPA is a negotiating tactic to gain an advantage in our ongoing business discussions. XM pays royalties to writers and composers who are also compensated by our device manufacturers. We are confident that the lawsuit is without merit and that we will prevail".
XM's rivals and potential merger partners Sirius have reached a deal with the record labels about their store and listen on demand service, though the NMPA has confirmed their talks with Sirius are also ongoing.