Pandora Dealt Setback in Turtles Lawsuit

Pandora's effort to move the Flo & Eddie lawsuit, on whether the streaming radio service has to pay master recording performance royalties for pre-1972 material, out of the courtroom of Judge Philip Gutierrez played out as expected when the judge denied the company's motion to dismiss.

Pandora filed the anti-SLAPP (strategic lawsuit against public participation) motion to dismiss in the US District Court of Central California because Gutierrez previously ruled in favor of Flo & Eddie in a similar lawsuit against SiriusXM. In that suit, the judge said the Turtles songs were protected by California state copyright law. Flo & Eddie, aka Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan, were the singers of the Turtles.