Pandora Responds To $25 Million Lawsuit From Flo & Eddie

Legal Battle

The legal battle between PANDORA and THE TURTLES -- MARK VOLMAN and HOWARD KAYLAN, also known as FLO AND EDDIE, continues to escalate.

Back in OCTOBER (NET NEWS 10/3), fresh off their victory in their lawsuit against SIRIUSXM RADIO, VOLMAN and KAYLAN filed a class action lawsuit against PANDORA, alleging the same violation of state copyright protection for pre-1972 recordings.  The suit was filed in CALIFORNIA, where U.S. District Judge PHILIP GUTIERREZ granted summary judgment for the plaintiffs in the SIRIUSXM case. The PANDORA suit seeks at least $25 million for unpaid royalties

Now, MUSICWEEK reports, "PANDORA has hit back at ex-members of the TURTLES FLO & EDDIE, who filed a lawsuit seeking royalty payments for songs dating from before 1972. According to PANDORA, the claims constitute a restriction on freedom of speech and has requested that the court block the musician’s demands. The request was made in CALIFORNIA on FRIDAY via an anti-SLAPP (Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation) motion. Anti-SLAPP laws are a method of challenging legal action that threatens freedom of speech."

PANDORA noted in the filing: “The point of the anti-SLAPP statute is that you have a right not to be dragged through the courts because you exercised your constitutional rights”.

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