The Turtles vs SiriusXM Case Heads To Court

The latest battle over pre-1972 songs begins with pre-trial conference scheduled for a week from today.  The trial is set to start November 15, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Nearly half a century after pop group The Turtles released the chart-topping hit "Happy Together," two of them are about to take center stage in a different kind of arena: California federal court.

For the past three years, Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan, known as Flo & Eddie, have been fighting a legal battle on behalf of artists who created songs prior to February 15, 1972 — the day the federal government granted copyrights to music.

These pre-72 sound recordings are a centerpiece of digital channels like SiriusXM Radio's '60s on 6 — but until recently rightsholders weren't being compensated because the tunes weren't federally protected. So Flo & Eddie filed several class action lawsuits against Sirius to seek vindication under state laws.

So far in the California fight, U.S. District Judge Philip Gutierrez has already granted summary judgment in Flo & Eddie's favor, finding Sirius' use of the music violates public performance rights.

Battles in Florida and New York have seen split results. Sirius is currently appealing a Turtles win in the Empire State, meanwhile the 11th Circuit has asked the Florida Supreme Court to rule on an appeal to the Sirius win there.

Sirius paid $210 million last summer to settle the issue of pre-72 recordings with the major record labels, which resolved the dispute for some members of Flo & Eddie's class.

The Turtles will next take on Sirius in California to determine what damages, if any, are owed to the remaining class members.

The Turtles are represented by Henry Gradstein, along with his colleagues from Gradstein & Marzano and attorneys from Susman Godfrey. An Oct. 7 court filing argues that because the court has already found liability on claims relating to public performance of the works he will not pursue the claims that Sirius improperly duplicated, reproduced and copied the recordings. The amount of damages being sought has been redacted, but is tied directly to the satellite company's local subscriber revenue.

Flo & Eddie also want the court to issue an injunction that would require Sirius to license pre-1972 recordings moving forward or, alternatively, issue an award of future damages based on revenue projections. (Read the full filing here.)

On the other side, Daniel Petrocelli is leading the battle on behalf of the satellite music giant. He argues that Sirius openly and continuously performed the songs for more than a decade without any complaint from class members and The Turtles won't be able to prove that any of them were damaged.