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Labels Sue XM Over Portables; XM to Fight Back

Labels Sue XM Over Portables; XM to Fight Back

The record industry is suing XM Satellite Radio for copyright infringement over XM’s new portable Inno that allow subscribers to record and store 50 hours of music. In the lawsuit, filed in New York, a coalition of record labels claims that XM’s new portable is really a “new digital download subscription service,” according to The Washington Post.
The lawsuit seeks $150,000 in damages for every song copied by XM customers using the devices, according to the account.
While both XM and Sirius testified during a congressional hearing last week they pay music licensing fees to ASCAP and BMI, the record labels believe the satcasters should pay more because the new devices allow customers to store music in any order they wish, rather the order in which it is aired, for future use.
The satcasters have said the music stays on the new portables and cannot be transferred to a computer or to the Internet.
XM and CEA have argued in congressional hearings on the so-called audio broadcast flag that the record labels want to limit a consumer’s legal right to record material aired on the radio for personal use.
XM said it would fight the allegations in the suit.
“These are legal devices that allow consumers to listen to and record radio just as the law has allowed for decades,” said XM spokesman Chance Patterson 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.”
Sirius recently settled with the record labels in similar discussions regarding its new S50, as we’ve reported.

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