Song recordings created before 1972 don't have federal copyright, but many states did grant such copyrights. The varying rules on older songs have been a huge headache for satellite radio provider Sirius XM, and may yet be a boondoggle for streaming services like Pandora.

After experiencing some adverse rulings, Sirius is moving to put its biggest legal conflict over royalties behind it. Documents filed this morning with the Securities and Exchange Commission indicate that the company has agreed to pay the major record labels $210 million to end their dispute over whether they should be paying royalties for pre-1972 songs.

The song doesn't end litigation by the '60s band The Turtles, who still have a class-action lawsuit proceeding against Sirius. But the major labels have the rights to about 80 percent of the pre-1972 music that Sirius plays.

Two former members of the Turtles sued Sirius in 2013, and the record labels filed their own lawsuit soon thereafter. The labels proceeded to sue streaming service Pandora in 2014.

The settlement gives Sirius the right to play the old songs until 2017, and to negotiate a royalty deal after that which would cover them until 2022.

"This is a great step forward for all music creators," said Recording Industry Association of America Chairman and CEO Cary Sherman. "Music has tremendous value, whether it was made in 1970 or 2015. We hope others take note of this important agreement and follow SiriusXM's example."

Satellite radio and online music services are already at a disadvantage vis-a-vis terrestrial radio, which gets to play songs without paying any performance royalties. The need to make an additional payment for pre-1972 songs will represent an extra barrier to entering that market.

Sirius was sued in California, New York, and Florida. It suffered adverse rulings in both California and New York, but actually won a round in Florida earlier this week, when The Turtles' lawsuit in that state was tossed out.