Welcome to the LOUDEST DOT COM ON THE PLANET! | |
Record Labels Sue XM Satellite By Newsferatu, Writer Wednesday, May 17, 2006 @ 9:52 AM
Natural allies in the music industry -- record labels and
a leading satellite service -- are on opposing sides in a federal
lawsuit over how consumers may legally record songs using
next-generation radio devices.
The recording industry accuses XM Satellite Radio of "massive wholesale
infringement" because of a $400 iPod-like device that allows XM
customers to record up to 50 hours of music and automatically parse
recordings by song and artist. The "Inno" is sold under the slogan,
"Hear it, click it, save it."
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in New York by the largest labels, seeks
$150,000 in damages for every song copied by XM Satellite customers
using the devices, which went on sale weeks ago. The company says it
plays 160,000 different songs every month.
The lawsuit does not seek directly any payments from or sanctions
against XM Satellite customers who record songs. But if the lawsuit
were successful, it could raise the company's costs, which could be
passed on to subscribers as higher monthly fees.
XM Satellite promised to fight the lawsuit and accused the labels of
using the courts as leverage during business negotiations.
"These are legal devices that allow consumers to listen to and record
radio just as the law has allowed for decades," it said in a statement.
"The music labels are trying to stifle innovation, limit consumer
choice and roll back consumers' rights to record content for their
personal use."
XM Satellite has balked at the recording industry's efforts to collect
expensive distribution licenses similar to those required for Internet
downloading services, such as Apple Inc.'s iTunes. XM's chief rival,
Sirius Satellite Radio Inc., already has agreed to pay for such
licenses to cover similar gadgets for its service.
XM's chairman, Gary Parsons, previously said requiring such licenses,
in addition to broader performance licenses the company already pays,
would represent "a new tax being imposed on our subscribers."
XM Satellite has compared its new device to a high-tech videocassette
recorder, which consumers can legally use to record programs for their
personal use. It also says songs stored on the device from its
broadcasts can't be copied and can only be played for as long as a
customer subscribes to its service.
The head of the music industry's trade group said the XM Satellite
device is legally indistinguishable from iPods and other portable music
players that work with downloading services.
"Yahoo!, Rhapsody, iTunes and Napster all have licenses," said Mitch
Bainwol, chief executive for the Recording Industry Association of
America. "There's no reason XM shouldn't as well."
XM subscribers pay $12.95 per month to listen to more than 170 channels
of entertainment, sports and news programs, including 69 channels of
different music genres without commercials.
A Washington-based consumers group, Public Knowledge, said the lawsuit
threatens the rights of listeners to record music for their own use.
"The shame of the legal action, however, is that this is really a
dispute between XM and the recording industry over licensing fees," the
group's president, Gigi Sohn, said in a statement. "The companies
should be left to figure out a solution without interference from the
courts or from Congress."
| |||||
|
Recent News |