Sirius pays $210M to settle 'oldies' lawsuit

Kevin McCoy | USA TODAY

Sirius XM (SIRI) will continue broadcasting oldies music, but it's costing the satellite radio company $210 million to keep The Beatles, Benny Goodman, Louis Armstrong and other greats on the air.

New York-based Sirius said Friday the payment would settle a 2013 Los Angeles Superior Court case in which five music companies contested its right to broadcast tunes recorded before 1972.

Sirius agreed to pay Capitol Records, Sony Music Entertainment, UMG Recordings, Warner Music Group and ABKCO Music, who "challenged our use of sound recordings fixed prior to February 15, 1972," Sirius said in a public filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

"The conduct of Sirius XM presents the paradigmatic example of a commercial business that is based on, uses, and profits from the intellectual property created by and owned by others, without obtaining the right to do so, and without paying for it," the music firms charged in the court complaint.

"Sirius XM refuses to obtain licenses and pay for the daily performance and reproduction of thousands of plaintiff's pre-72 recordings that Sirius XM copies and transmits to millions of its paying subscribers over dozens of its satellite radio channels," the companies alleged.

The complaint included a 36-page listing of pre-1972 recordings allegedly infringed by Sirius. The selections ranged from the 1910 Fruit Gum Company's Indian Giver and the Allman Brothers' Midnight Rider to Wilson Pickett's Mustang Sally and the Youngbloods Ride the Wind.

The payment settling the lawsuit is due on or before July 15, Sirius said.

The settlement terms authorize the satellite radio firm to broadcast oldies music in the U.S. through Dec. 31, 2017. After that, Sirius said the settlement gives it the right to seek new licenses with the music companies to authorize continued broadcasts.

Sirius shares closed up 1.18% at $3.86 in Friday trading.