US-headquartered performance rights organization SoundExchange is appealing its loss of a lawsuit against SiriusXM over allegedly underpaid royalties.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn filing of a notice of appeal with the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, SoundExchange has taken the first step in rectifying the lower court’s erroneous ruling and flawed interpretation of\u2026 the US Copyright Act,\u201d SoundExchange said in a statement on Friday (September 5).<\/p>\n
Last month, Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald<\/strong> of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York dismissed SoundExchange\u2018s lawsuit<\/a> against SiriusXM, ruling that Congress has never granted the PRO the authority to file lawsuits on behalf of the rightsholders on whose behalf it collects royalties.<\/p>\n Under the Digital Performance in Sound Recordings Act of 1995 and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) of 1998, SoundExchange is authorized to collect and distribute performance royalties on sound recordings.<\/p>\n However, the Judge Buchwald concluded that the law as it stands \u201cdoes not authorize SoundExchange to litigate royalty disputes.\u201d<\/p>\n SoundExchange said the ruling was \u201centirely wrong on the law.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAs Congress surely realized in creating the statutory license, some licensees will seek any available means to avoid paying artists for the full value of their work to maximize profitability,\u201d Sound Exchange said.<\/p>\n \u201cFor the statutory license to function properly, SoundExchange fully believes Congress intended that the \u2018enforcement\u2019 power clearly granted in the statute must necessarily include the ability of its administrator to bring litigation claims when digital music services fail to meet their obligations under the law.\u201d<\/p>\n “SoundExchange fully believes Congress intended that the \u2018enforcement\u2019 power clearly granted in the statute must necessarily include the ability of its administrator to bring litigation claims when digital music services fail to meet their obligations under the law.\u201d<\/p>\n SoundExchange<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n SoundExchange said that, while the courts discuss the issue, SiriusXM \u201ccontinues to apply its faulty methodology for determining its statutory obligations\u2026 and to underpay artists and labels for the use of their sound recordings.\u201d<\/p>\n It estimates that the impact of SiriusXM\u2019s alleged underpayment is now more than $400 million<\/strong>.<\/p>\n