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Pre-1972 Recordings Case Against Sirius In GA Hits Spotlight
The February 16 ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ordering the dismissal of Flo & Eddie's closely watched class-action lawsuit against Sirius XM Radio over the use by the satellite provider of pre-1972 sound recordings lately has received the lion's share of attention on this hotly litigated issue. (The Second Circuit shot down the claims by the original members of the 1960s hit-makers The Turtles who alleged common-law copyright infringement and unfair competition. Flo & Eddie Inc. v. Sirius XM Radio Inc., 15-1164.)
But a few days before the Second Circuit published its decision, the Georgia Supreme Court heard arguments in a class action case against iHeartMedia over its use of pre-1972 sound recordings. Attorney Matthew Galin of the Foster firm in Chicago flew down to Atlanta to tell the Georgia Supreme Court that iHeartRadio is a bootlegger and a pirate playing his clients' songs without paying for them. At an oral argument field trip for the state supreme court justices to Emory University School of Law in Atlanta, they seemed a bit skeptical of Galin's suggestion that broadcasting songs on the radio is legal and even good for the music industry, but streaming them on the Internet is a violation of Georgia's criminal record piracy statute, Ga. Code §16-8-60, that hurts the owners of the master copies by depriving them of record sales (and thus allegedly makes iHeartMedia run afoul of Georgia's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act).
But “[i]t's the same broadcast,” Justice Nels Peterson said.
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