LOS ANGELES (Hypebot) – The Second Circuit appeals court has ruled against ASCAP and determined that music downloads are not a 'public performance' under copyright law.
The streaming music royalty rates that Yahoo, Real and others pay to the performing rights organization have been overturned and are being reexamined. For now, they only have to pay for creating copies of music, but ASCAP may continue their battle.
ASCAP noted in a memo that they're disappointed about the ruling and are re-strategizing.
Yahoo, on the other hand, is quite pleased that ASCAP's money grab didn't work out and is hoping for "the establishment of a truly reasonable royalty license rate that properly accounts for music use on its services."