In 2013, Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan, two members of the Turtles who also perform as Flo & Eddie, filed a class-action lawsuit against SiriusXM over its playing of "pre-1972 recordings without obtaining licenses from or paying royalties to owners of the recordings." In a settlement reached in November 2016, SiriusXM agreed to pay up to $99 million. A month later, a New York State Court of Appeals judge upheld SiriusXM's appeal, concurring that "the issue of royalty payments is determined by the federal Copyright Act. An alleged state copyright for pre-1972 sound recordings does not exist." Not surprisingly, SiriusXM no longer plays Turtles recordings.
As Al Jolson said in The Jazz Singer (1927), the first feature film with synchronized sound, "You ain't heard nothin' yet!" More than 150 musicians and music executives are now threatening to boycott SiriusXM over the company's opposition to portions of the new copyright revision bill known as the Music Modernization Act.
Paul McCartney, Don Henley, Stevie Nicks, Katy Perry, Carole King, Carly Simon and dozens more threaten to boycott SiriusXM over its opposition to the Music Modernization Act
https://variety.com/2018/music/news/...ct-1202944141/
SiriusXM quickly responded to the musicians' allegations:
SiriusXM responds to artists' letter threatening boycott
https://variety.com/2018/biz/news/si...tt-1202945226/
And today:
Music Modernization Act passes in Senate with unanimous support
Billboard, Sep 18 2018
The long road to copyright revision is nearing its end as the US.Senate today passed the Music Modernization Act by unanimous consent . The move mimics the House's unilateral support, previously passing the bill by a vote of 415-0 back in April. With the Senate's move, the legislation has been renamed the Orrin G. Hatch Music Modernization Act in honor of the Republican senior senator from Utah -- a songwriter himself -- who will retire at the end of his term this year.
Now the Senate version of the bill will go back to the House where it needs approval due to all the changes made to the bill in order to get it passed in the Senate. If the House approves the new version of the bill, it will need to be signed by President Donald Trump before it can become law.
https://www.billboard.com/articles/b...nimous-support
Stay tuned. And if all of Paul McCartney's music suddenly disappears from The Beatles Channel, we'll know why.