New royalties are set by U.S. copyright authorities for proposed merger partners Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. and XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc., that were in line, or lower than Wall Street expectations.

The Copyright Royalty Board of the U.S. Library of Congress set royalties for sound recordings at 6 percent of gross revenues for 2007 and 2008, with some exclusions, 6.5 percent for 2009, 7 percent for 2010, 7.5 percent for 2011 and 8 percent for 2012.

SoundExchange, the music industry group that collects royalties, had sought rates starting at 8 percent and rising.

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