Judge Nixes SiriusXM Summary Judgment Motion In Turtles NY Case

Motion Denied

SIRIUSXM RADIO has been dealt another setback in its defense of suits brought against it by MARK VOLMAN and HOWARD KAYLAN, better known as THE TURTLES and FLO AND EDDIE, as a federal judge has denied the satellite broadcaster's motion for summary judgment in the musician's suit in NEW YORK.

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER reports that Federal Judge COLLEEN MCMAHON's ruling denying the motion in the suit over pre-1972 performance rights goes further than other rulings in the cases brought by the artists, saying that while broadcasters have never paid performance royalties, "acquiescence by participants in the recording industry in a status quo where recording artists and producers were not paid royalties while songwriters were does not show that they lacked an enforceable right under the common law -- only that they failed to act on it."

MCMAHON suggested that rather than proving that common law does not include a performance royalty right, the lack of rulings in the matter implies that "common law copyright in sound recordings comes with the entire bundle of rights that holders of copyright in other works enjoy."  She also rejected SIRIUSXM's defenses of fair use and the Interstate Commerce Clause.

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