Pandora may be close to settling one of its legal problems: the question of royalties for songs recorded before 1972.
The New York Post claimed yesterday that Pandora is preparing a $90m settlement with rightsholders: $60m for existing plays of pre-1972 recordings and another $30m to cover until the end of 2016.
Pandora declined to comment, but the story suggested the settlement will be approved at a board meeting next week. It follows a $210m payment from Sirius XM agreed in June following a lawsuit over its use of music from the same era.
Pandora is facing its own lawsuit from labels, despite claiming that federal copyright law covering master recordings does not apply to songs before 15 February 1972. $90m may be a hit to Pandora’s bottom line, but it arguably gives the company more certainty going forward over its costs.
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