A group of lawyers representing Soundgarden, Hole, singer/songwriter Steve Earle, the estate of the Tupac Shakur and the late-Tom Petty‘s ex-wife, Jane, have filed a class-action lawsuit against Universal Music Group (UMG). It seeks damage compensation as a result of the controversial Universal Studios fire which allegedly destroyed more than 500,000 archived master audio recordings in June …
Losing between 25 and 40 million dollars in a legal settlement would be a crippling blow for virtually any company — but for satellite radio giant SiriusXM, which cut such a deal in November after a long battle with pop group The Turtles over pre-1972 royalty payments, it could turn out to be a triumph. For the past eight years SiriusXM has not been paying royalties on the music it plays that …
Sirius XM Satellite Radio’s recent settlement with ex-members of the 60s rock group The Turtles over royalty payments for old recordings has the potential to solidify the dominant position of big music services like Sirius XM, at the expense of new music services, independent and Web-based radio stations, and the listening public. If approved by the court, the settlement would give Sirius XM …
A public feud between Hocking County officials has exposed what the sheriff acknowledges were two of his on-duty deputies making racist comments on recordings uncovered in a federal lawsuit. Hocking County sheriff’s deputies Patrick Allison and Edwin Downs, while on duty and in the office, “joked” about burning crosses and building portable crosses to make cross-burning less work. In two …