Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
NEW YORK (AP) — A federal appeals court has ruled in favor of Internet streaming service Pandora in a dispute with the songwriters rights society ASCAP.
ASCAP — the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers — had been seeking to raise what Pandora pays songwriters. But because of its enormous clout, representing about half of all composers and publishers in the nation, the government has put conditions on its activities for decades.
On Wednesday, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York said ASCAP must still license its works to Pandora at a court-set rate.
Major music publishers EMI, Sony and Universal had sought a partial withdrawal from ASCAP so they could cut a direct deal with new media users like Pandora. The appeals court said they could not partially withdraw.
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.