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The founders of ’60s pop-rock band the Turtles sued the digital radio service Pandora Media in Los Angeles Thursday for alleged nonpayment of performance royalties on their hit songs.
The suit comes a week after Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman, known as Flo & Eddie of the Turtles, won a similar copyright infringement complaint against satellite-radio company SiriusXM in Los Angeles federal court.
In the proposed class-action suit against Pandora, Kaylan and Volman contend they are owed more than $25 million in damages for the broadcast of pre- 1972 tunes by the group without their permission.
A message to Oakland-based Pandora requesting comment was not immediately answered.
At issue are digital broadcast rights and royalties on the Turtles’ pre- 1972 hits “Happy Together,” “It Ain’t Me Babe” and “She’d Rather Be With Me.”
“Pandora is aware that it does not have any license, right or authority to reproduce, perform, distribute or otherwise exploit via the music service any pre-1972 recordings (including the Turtles’ recordings),” the complaint alleges.
Under current copyright law, songs recorded prior to 1972 do not require a performance royalty to be paid to the artist and musicians when broadcast on a digital service.
Kaylan and Volman, owners of Flo & Eddie Inc., have filed similar lawsuits in New York and Florida, seeking compensation from satellite and digital radio providers.
— City News Service