Skip to main content

FL Supreme Court Hears Turtles Tunes Case

The Florida Supreme Court heard arguments Thursday in a case focused on whether satellite radio giant SiriusXM should have to pay royalties to The Turtles, a pop duo that recorded such iconic oldies as “Happy Together” more than four decades ago.

Flo & Eddie — a California-based company whose principals are Turtles vocalists Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan — filed the lawsuit in 2013 against Sirius, which has more than 100 channels and over 24 million subscribers. Flo & Eddie also filed lawsuits against the satellite radio company in New York and California.

Flo & Eddie accused Sirius XM of infringing on its common-law copyright of songs by making “unauthorized public performances” of the pop group’s hits.

But a federal district court judge in Florida sided with Sirius, finding in part that nothing in Florida statutes or common law dealt with copyrights of recordings that were made before 1972, when the federal Sound Recordings Act went into effect.

Flo & Eddie appealed, but the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sent the case to the Florida Supreme Court, asking justices to decide, among other things, whether the state common law recognizes a property right in sound recordings.

According to gainesville.com, during Thursday’s arguments, both sides repeatedly referred to a 1943 Florida case involving Charles Hoffman, a magician who was also known as “Think-a-Drink Hoffman.” Hoffman, who made fancy drinks appear out of empty cocktail shakers and beakers filled with water, sought an injunction against Maurice Glazer, who went by the names “Think-a-Drink Count Maurice” or “Have-a-Drink Count Maurice.”

Because a court in the Glazer case sided in part with Hoffman, the three-judge federal appellate panel found that “there is at least a significant argument that Florida common law may recognize a common law property right in sound recordings.”

But during Thursday’s arguments, several justices appeared skeptical that Florida common law would apply to the Turtles case.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Providence Radio: Tara Granahan Lands Late Mornings On N/T WPRO

Tara Granahan NewsTalk WPRO 630 AM & 99.7 FM has announced that Tara Granahan has been named the permanent 9am-12noon host on the Providence heritage talk station. Tara is an award- winning journalist with a radio and television career that spans over 25 years.  She has reported on politics, local news, and entertainment, and has  interviewed President Bill Clinton, Oprah Winfrey, Regis Philbin, and many others.  Tara was also nominated for 5 Emmy Awards for her investigating reporting for the “You Paid For It” series on WLNE-TV (ABC-6) in Providence. Tara arrived at WPRO in 2007 and has hosted the morning show, served as sidekick and co-host with former Providence Mayor “Buddy” Cianci, and recently Tara was the host of the 6pm-9pm show on WPRO. Tara has been handling the 9am-12noon show since the start of January. Tara received a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Rhode Island in Journalism. She was born and raised in Rhode Island and will continue to be a hug...
Post a Comment
Read more

iHM Launches On The Move With Enrique Santos

iHeartMedia announced Thursday the launch of On the Move with Enrique Santos, its hallmark English language Hispanic targeted content initiative that complements its already successful Spanish-language Hispanic offerings. Today, 53 percent of the Hispanic population in the U.S. are primarily Spanish-language first households and 43 percent are primary English-language households, and iHeartMedia says it will now deliver to both at scale across broadcast and digital platforms. On the Move with Enrique Santos is the first English-language radio program to feature Hispanic broadcast powerhouse Enrique Santos, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of iHeartLatino, iHeartMedia’s new Hispanic platform.   The new two-hour music-intensive Contemporary Hit Radio (CHR) weekend program features what’s hot and moving in music, entertainment, lifestyle and current events targeted to the Hispanic community. On The Move With Enrique Santos will originate from Miami and debut the weekend of April 15...
Post a Comment
Read more

Entercom-CBS Radio Merger Dominates 1Q Broadcast Deals

U.S. broadcast station mergers and acquisitions (M&A) volume reached $2.76 billion in the first quarter of 2017, according to analysis by Kagan, a media research group within S&P Global Market Intelligence. Radio deals accounted for $2.59 billion, with $2.50 billion from just one deal. On February 2, Entercom Communications Corp. and CBS Radio Inc. announced a Reverse Morris Trust tax-free transaction valued at $2.86 billion, in which CBS Corp. would spin off its radio unit. At a 7.0x forward seller’s multiple, the 29 AM and 88 FM stations account for $2.50 billion, making this the largest radio transaction since 2006. The remaining $92.9 million was paid for 61 AM stations, 60 FM stations and 44 low-power stations. The largest deal following the Entercom/CBS merger was Starboard Media Foundation’s acquisition of Immaculate Heart Radio. The religious radio operator assumed an undisclosed amount of debt (estimated at $30.0 million) of Immaculate Heart’s owner IHR Educational Bro...
Post a Comment
Read more