A federal appeals court in Pasadena Monday revived a lawsuit brought by a consortium of record companies alleging that CBS Radio violated their rights by failing to receive consent to broadcast or stream oldies for which they own the copyrights.
CBS won on summary judgment two years ago in Los Angeles federal court when the judge determined that the media giant hadn’t broadcast the original pre-1972 analog recordings. Instead, they had broadcast remastered versions fashioned by sound engineers decades later and thus would not have to pay broadcast fees, the judge found.
In a unanimous ruling, a three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in Pasadena determined that the lower court had erred in tossing the lawsuit brought by ABS — an alliance of labels owning recordings made by Al Green, the Everly Brothers, the Chi-Lites and Mahalia Jackson and others.
“A digitally remastered sound recording made as a copy of the original analog sound recording will rarely exhibit the necessary originality to qualify for independent copyright protection,” Judge Richard Linn wrote for the panel.
The appellate panel returned the case to U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson for further proceedings in downtown Los Angeles, including a review of the plaintiffs’ class action claims.