SDNY COURTHOUSE, Nov 9 – In a case
involving Sirius XM, the implosion of its law firm Weil,
Gotshall and Manges has resulted in trial being pushed
back from January to June 2027. Inner City Press live
tweeted it on November 9:
...Now at case in which Weil Gotshal firm
represents Sirius XM, asking for delay in trial because
Weil "announced its intention to wind down its
operations... makes it impossible for Sirius XM to meet
the current deadlines."
Judge Failla: I have Part 1 duty in
February, trials in April and May. How about June 7?
Benjamin Marks (of Weil) That would be OK,
we have another trial we are all involved in.
Judge: I have a holiday on June 18 - &
another trial on June 21. The next time for me is in
August.
King & Spalding's Paul Fakler, also for
Sirius: I'm just reading into the case.
Judge Failla: April 19-May 2 I have a
crypto re-trial, I know the defendant will not plead
guilty, if DOJ decides not to retry, I'll tell you. [Have
you heard of, Roman Storm of Tornado Cash?]
Background: BMI’s petition against SiriusXM
is a rate-court case: BMI says it can’t agree with
SiriusXM on a new license and has asked the court to set
the fee. BMI licenses public performance of more than 22.4
million songs, and it operates under a federal antitrust
consent decree. The decree requires BMI to quote fees it
considers reasonable and lets either side ask the Southern
District of New York to evaluate the quote or set a rate
if talks fail. BMI sent SiriusXM its rate quote on May 8,
2023, for a blanket license running January 1, 2022
through December 31, 2026. It filed the petition on
September 12, 2024, in 1:24-cv-06896 (KPF).
The petition asks the court to
confirm BMI’s rates as reasonable or set its own, to order
fees paid from January 1, 2022, and to award prejudgment
interest on the gap between the interim fees SiriusXM has
paid and the final rate. BMI’s theory is that the
flat-fee license the parties signed in 2019 for 2018 to
2022 no longer fits SiriusXM’s business. BMI alleges
SiriusXM’s revenue grew faster than projected and its
subscriber acquisition costs fell. BMI also says
SiriusXM’s streaming offerings have expanded and make it
“more akin to a music streaming service.â€
The petition cites about 33.9 million
subscribers at the end of 2023, more than $6.8 billion in
2023 revenue and a market value above $11 billion. BMI
also points to the other two U.S. performing rights
organizations, GMR and SESAC, which it says renegotiated
SiriusXM deals at rates supporting its quote. It says the
2018 repeal of Section 114(i) now lets the court consider
sound recording rates.
The petition leaves out the actual
rate BMI is seeking as competitively sensitive. The
parties have been on an interim extension since December
2022, with fees subject to retroactive adjustment, so the
amount SiriusXM owes for years of music use is still open,
it seems. As tweeted above, at today’s proceeding
the trial was pushed from January to June. The result is
that a dispute over a license period ending December 31,
2026 will not be decided until well after that period has
run out. SiriusXM will keep paying interim fees in the
meantime, and the case is now almost two years old.
The case is Broadcast Music, Inc. v. Sirius
XM Radio LLC, 1:24-cv-6896 (Failla)
