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# Sirius XM Loses Pre-1972 Music Lawsuit, Potential Damages In $100s Of Millions
- URL: https://www.hypebot.com/sirius-xm-loses-crushing-pre-1971-music-lawsuit-potential-damages-in-100s-of-millions/
- Published: 2014-09-23T12:18:54.000Z
- Updated: 2014-09-23T12:18:54.000Z
- Description: In a ruling that could have major impact on all broadcasters, California U.S. District Court Judge Philip Gutierrez ruled that Sirius XM must pay copyright fees for pre-1972 recordings. Flo &. Continue reading [https://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2014/09/sirius-xm-loses-crushing-pre-1971-music-lawsuit-p
- Author: Bruce Houghton
- Tags: Music Business, Music Tech, Radio & Satellite, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-01-21 10:38

[![sirius xm](http://hypebot.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83451b36c69e201b7c6e5a550970b-250wi "sirius xm")](http://hypebot.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83451b36c69e201b7c6e5a550970b-popup?ref=hypebot.com)

In a ruling that could have major impact on all broadcasters, California U.S. District Court Judge Philip Gutierrez ruled that Sirius XM must pay copyright fees for pre-1972 recordings. Flo & Eddie of The Turtles brought the lawsuit in 2013 over the public performance of "Happy Together" and their other pre-1972 sound recordings seeking $100 million in damages.

**Let The Lawsuits Begin**

Lawyers representing other artist who released recording prior to 1972 are salivating over the court ruling, which[ reads](http://www.showbiz411.com/2014/09/23/radio-serious-court-ruling-against-sirius-xm-over-playing-but-not-paying-for-pre-1972-music?ref=hypebot.com): “On undisputed facts, Sirius XM publicly performs Flo & Eddie’s sound recordings without authorization to do so…At minimum, Flo & Eddie was injured by Sirius XM’s conduct in the form of foregone licensing or royalty payments that Sirius XM should have paid before publicly performing Flo & Eddie’s recordings.”

SiriusXM is already facing another lawsuit from the RIAA in California and from Flo & Eddie in other states. Pandora is also facing a similar lawsuit in New York.