Turtles Slowed..Winning Streak Ends for Flo & Eddie

SiriusXM is singing a happy tune after finally scoring a courtroom success over its public performance of pre-1972 music, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

In 2013, Flo & Eddie of The Turtles filed separate lawsuits in California, Florida and New York, aiming to use state laws to punish SiriusXM for misappropriating their common law rights to sound recordings. The plaintiffs haven't gotten royalties from exploitation of songs like "Happy Together" on satellite radio, and in high-stakes litigation with the potential of shattering long-held assumptions and winning hundreds of millions of dollars in damages, California and New York judges have favored the argument that state laws protect the public performance of sound recordings in the absence of federal legislation.

The Florida judge was last to rule, and perhaps surprisingly given how the other cases have gone, U.S. District Judge Darrin Gayles on Monday decided to rule in favor of SiriusXM's summary judgment motion.

The judge says he understands why his judicial colleagues ruled differently. California and New York are centers of the art world, laws have been enacted there to protect artistic rights, and there's been prior cases that have touched upon the present controversy.

"Florida is different," writes Gayles. "There is no specific Florida legislation covering sound recording property rights, nor is there a bevy of case law interpreting common law copyright related to the arts."

Without any such guidance, the judge has to decide whether public performance of pre-72 sound recordings are implicitly protected or whether they should be protected.

"If this Court adopts Flo & Eddie’s position, it would be creating a new property right in Florida as opposed to interpreting the law," he continues. "The Court declines to do so."

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