XM Satellite Being Sued by Record Industry

According to an Associated Press article in Yahoo! News, major record labels filed a lawsuit  in New York yesterday against XM Satellite Radio. The recording industry is targeting XM's new "iPod-like" recording device called Inno that allows users to record up to 50 hours of music from XM Satellite Radio because XM has not paid distribution licenses for the music.

Mitch Bainwol of the Recording Industry Association of America, which represents leading music labels, suggested that XM should have to pay the distribution fees like Napster, Apple, Yahoo and its chief rival SIRIUS have for their music player devices. XM's Chairman, Gary Parsons, couldn't disagree more and has vowed to fight the case.

While consumers using Inno are not being named in the lawsuit, the chances are that XM will pass along the legal costs to consumers if they lose the court case.