XM Satellite Radio Sued For Copyright Violations

The music recording industry Tuesday sued XM Satellite Radio for copyright infringement, claiming the company's program that allows users to record music played in XM broadcasts violates copyright laws.

The complaint, filed in federal court in the Southern District of New York, notes that XM has a license agreement to play the music, but that agreement does not give XM the right to record, distribute, or reproduce copyrighted music. In particular, the complaint refers to devices such as the Pioneer Inno, which enable users to store and replay music recorded from XM broadcasts as part of the XM + MP3 service.

"The XM + MP3 service thus goes far beyond the traditional radio broadcast ... and effectively provides a digital download service as well," the complaint states. "Indeed, far from the 'radio-like' service for which XM enjoys a statutory license, XM promises its subscribers that this new service 'delivers new music to you every day and lets you choose tracks to create your own custom playlists.'"

XM responded to the suit by saying it has done nothing wrong. The Washington D.C.-based company also questioned the motives of the recording industry and said it would "vigorously depend this lawsuit on behalf of consumers."

"This is a negotiating tactic on the part of the labels to gain an advantage in our private business discussions," XM said in a statement. The company also said that the lawsuit is a matter of the recording industry, "trying to stifle innovation, limit consumer choice and roll back consumers' rights to record content for their personal use."

The complaint further alleges that XM's service undermines "lawful legitimate services, such as iTunes and others" such as Napster. Ironically, Napster was long the target of the recording industry when it was a peer-to-peer music downloading service. However, Napster now is a legal music subscription download service.

"Because subscribers will receive and be able to store individual songs with the XM +MP3 service, and because XM makes available vast catalogues of music in every genre, XM subscribers will have little need ever again to buy legitimate copies of Plaintiff's sound recordings."

The recording companies filing the suit include Atlantic, BMG Music, Capitol Records, Elektra, Interscope Records, Motown, Sony BMG, UMG, Virgin Records, and Warner Bros. The suit was brought on behalf of the companies by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), which spearheaded the attack against peer-to-peer music download services.

The suit says that the music being distributed by the XM + MP3 service "include some of the most commercially successful recordings in the world. Defendant is thus seeking to capitalize upon the popularity of Plaintiff's sound recordings in order to attract and retain the maximum number of XM subscribers."

While the complaint specifically mentions Pioneer's Inno device and notes that other vendors, such as Samsung, will soon be releasing similar devices, the device vendors are not being sued. That's because the complaint alleges, "XM could prevent the creation of illegal permanent copies of Plaintiffs' protected sound recordings but has chosen not to do so."

Part of the complaint alleges that XM is inducing users to violate copyright laws. "Defendant knowingly encourages its XM + MP3 subscribers to build unauthorized libraries of copyrighted works," the complaint claims.

The recording companies had nine specific complaints against XM and are asking for a permanent injunction to stop the service. It also is asking for unspecified monetary damages that would be determined in a trial.