Washington – A U.S. District Court has ruled that a group representing songwriters and music publishers cannot limit the number of songs it licenses to the Internet’s largest radio service. The radio service, Pandora, had sought the ruling after several big publishers had tried to withdraw some new media publishing rights from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP). The ruling Tuesday comes ahead of a broader lawsuit expected to go to court in December.
The Computer & Communications Industry Association, which has a 40-year history of supporting innovators in the tech marketplace, praised the decision. Pandora is a member of CCIA. The following can be attributed to CCIA President & CEO Ed Black:
“This is an excellent decision in which a dynamic innovative company and consumers win! We are glad to see the court act swiftly to prevent discrimination against an innovator and to ensure that consumers continue to have lawful options for consuming content online.”
“This keeps Pandora’s 72 million listeners from losing access to songs that were available when they signed up. It’s the fair decision for customers, and in the long run, we believe it is a decision that best promotes the future of music for artists and distribution services alike.”