Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Commitments and Contingencies

v3.20.2
Commitments and Contingencies
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2020
Commitments and Contingencies

(10)   Commitments and Contingencies

Guarantees

In connection with agreements for the sale of assets by the Company or its subsidiaries, the Company may retain liabilities that relate to events occurring prior to its sale, such as tax, environmental, litigation and employment matters. The Company generally indemnifies the purchaser in the event that a third party asserts a claim against the purchaser that relates to a liability retained by the Company. These types of indemnification obligations may extend for a number of years. The Company is unable to estimate the maximum potential liability for these types of indemnification obligations as the sale agreements may not specify a maximum amount and the amounts are dependent upon the outcome of future contingent events, the nature and likelihood of which cannot be determined at this time. Historically, the Company has not made any significant indemnification payments under such agreements and no amount has been accrued in the accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements with respect to these indemnification guarantees.

Employment Contracts

The Atlanta Braves and certain of their players (current and former), coaches and executives have entered into long-term employment contracts whereby such individuals' compensation is guaranteed. Amounts due under guaranteed contracts as of September 30, 2020 aggregated $332 million, which is payable as follows: $72 million in 2020, $97 million in 2021, $42 million in 2022, $33 million in 2023 and $88 million thereafter. The guaranteed amounts in 2020 have been reduced to reflect a shortened 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to the foregoing amounts, certain players, coaches and executives may earn incentive compensation under the terms of their employment contracts.

Potential Impact of COVID-19

The business operations of Formula 1, the Atlanta Braves and Live Nation initially were largely, if not completely, suspended at the outset of COVID-19, and continue to be impacted. These businesses may be required to hold a smaller number of events than originally planned or may not be able to reschedule previously canceled or postponed events. The current year regular baseball season was comprised of 60 games. Formula 1 has scheduled 17 Events in 2020. In addition, these businesses have been and may continue to be precluded from holding events with fans in attendance for an undetermined period of time, thereby reducing revenue associated with fan attendance. It is also unclear whether and to what extent COVID-19 concerns will impact the use of and/or demand for the entertainment, events and services provided by these businesses and demand for sponsorship and advertising assets, even after the restrictions are lifted. In many cases, the impact of cancelled events, closed venues and reduced attendance will substantially decrease our revenue. Due to these revenue reductions, these businesses have looked to reduce expenses, but may not be able to reduce expenses to the same degree as our decline in revenue, which is expected to adversely affect our results of operations and cash flow.

Litigation

The Company has contingent liabilities related to legal and tax proceedings and other matters arising in the ordinary course of business. Although it is reasonably possible the Company may incur losses upon conclusion of such matters, an estimate of any loss or range of loss cannot be made. In the opinion of management, it is expected that amounts, if any, which may be required to satisfy such contingencies will not be material in relation to the accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements.

Pre-1972 Sound Recording Litigation.  On October 2, 2014, Flo & Eddie Inc. filed a class action suit against Pandora in the federal district court for the Central District of California. The complaint alleges a violation of California Civil Code Section 980, unfair competition, misappropriation and conversion in connection with the public performance of sound recordings recorded prior to February 15, 1972 (“pre-1972 recordings”). On December 19, 2014, Pandora filed a motion to strike the complaint pursuant to California’s Anti-Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation statute, which following denial of Pandora’s motion was appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. In March 2017, the Ninth Circuit requested certification to the California Supreme Court on the substantive legal questions. The California Supreme Court accepted certification. In May 2019, the California Supreme Court issued an order dismissing consideration of the certified questions on the basis that, following the enactment of the Orrin G. Hatch-Bob Goodlatte Music Modernization Act, Pub. L. No. 115-264, 132 Stat. 3676 (2018) (the “MMA”), resolution of the questions posed by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals was no longer “necessary to . . . settle an important question of law.”

The MMA grants a potential federal preemption defense to the claims asserted in the aforementioned lawsuits. In July 2019, Pandora took steps to avail itself of this preemption defense, including making the required payments under the MMA for certain of its uses of pre-1972 recordings. Based on the federal preemption contained in the MMA (along with other considerations), Pandora asked the Ninth Circuit to order the dismissal of the Flo & Eddie, Inc. v. Pandora Media, Inc. case. On October 17, 2019, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a memorandum disposition concluding that the question of whether the MMA preempts Flo and Eddie's claims challenging Pandora's performance of pre-1972 recordings "depends on various unanswered factual questions" and remanded the case to the District Court for further proceedings.

Sirius XM Holdings believes it has substantial defenses to the claims asserted in this action, and intends to defend this action vigorously.

Copyright Royalty Board Proceeding to Determine the Rate for Statutory Webcasting.  Pursuant to Sections 112 and 114 of the Copyright Act, the Copyright Royalty Board (the “CRB”) initiated a proceeding in January 2019 to set the rates and terms by which webcasters may perform sound recordings via digital transmission over the internet and make

ephemeral reproductions of those recordings during the 2021-2025 rate period under the authority of statutory licenses provided under Sections 112 and 114 of the Copyright Act. Sirius XM Holdings filed a petition to participate in the proceeding on behalf of its Sirius XM and Pandora businesses, as did other webcasters including Google Inc. and the National Association of Broadcasters. SoundExchange, a collective organization that collects and distributes digital performance royalties to artists and copyright holders, represents the various copyright owner participants in the proceeding, including Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, and Warner Music Group. Because the proceeding focuses on setting statutory rates for non-interactive online music streaming (commonly identified as “webcasting”), the proceeding will set the rates that Pandora pays for music streaming on its free, ad-supported tier and that Sirius XM pays for streaming on its subscription internet radio service.  This proceeding will not set the rates that Sirius XM Holdings pays for its other music offerings (satellite radio, business establishment services) or that it pays for interactive streaming on the Pandora Plus and Pandora Premium services.

In September 2019, the participants filed written direct statements, including proposed rates and terms for the 2021-2025 period. Sirius XM Holdings and other webcaster participants proposed rates below the existing statutory rates, which for commercial webcasters are currently set at $0.0018 per performance for non-subscription transmissions (such as offered by our Pandora ad-supported business) and $0.0024 per performance for subscription transmissions (such as offered by our Sirius XM internet radio service). SoundExchange has proposed increasing the commercial webcasting rates to $0.0028 per performance for non-subscription transmissions and $0.0031 per performance for subscription transmissions.

During the summer, the CRB held a multi-week hearing which concluded in September 2020.  An initial determination by the CRB is expected to be issued during the first half of 2021.