A federal judge has conditionally certified former SIRIUSXM RADIO interns as a class in the suit by former HOWARD STERN SHOW intern MELISSA TIERNEY over their unpaid status.

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of NEW YORK VALERIE CAPRONI made the certification after oral arguments on FRIDAY (11/7). The ruling is conditioned on SIIUSXM and the plaintiffs agreeing on class action notices by NOVEMBER 21st, and SIRIUSXM will have the chance to decertify the class, but the certification allows the case to proceed as a class action for now.

TIERNEY’s suit complained that she was assigned only menial tasks like fetching food, and the oral arguments centered on how interns at the radio company experienced similar situations at all of its locations. The case is one of several filed against media industry businesses over unpaid internships, notably FOX SEARCHLIGHT, CONDE NAST and HEARST.
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A CALIFORNIA state judge, MARY STROBEL, has handed down a major legal victory in the expanding campaign to secure compensation for pre-1972 recordings from services like SIRIUSXM and PANDORA.

Last FALL, a group of independent and major record labels sued SIRIUSXM in CALIFORNIA state court for using songs recorded before 1972 — including standards from the 40s and 50s, rock and roll from the 50s and 60s, and MOTOWN music — without paying the artists and rights holders royalties.

STROBEL granted the plaintiffs’ motion for jury instruction, ruling that CALIFORNIA law “must be interpreted to recognize … public performance rights in pre-1972 sound recordings.”

RIAA CEO CARY SHERMAN commented, “Two courts have now handed down landmark decisions which confirm what should be obvious — the pioneers of rock and roll and every other genre before 1972 deserve to be compensated when their music is used by companies like SIRIUSXM. It’s increasingly clear that SIRIUSXM, PANDORA and other digital music firms who refuse to pay legacy artists and rights holders are on the wrong side of history and the law. It’s time for that to change.”

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A settlement report filed in CUMULUS MEDIA NETWORKS’ lawsuit against syndicated host MICHAEL BAISDEN in U.S. District Court in DALLAS says that the parties have “conferred informally on settlement, expect to have additional discussions regarding possible settlement and plan to schedule a more formal settlement conference in the future.”

The talks signal a possible resolution to the case before trial, which was previously set for AUGUST 3rd, 2015, with the parties ordered to participate in mediation by APRIL 15th of next year.

CUMULUS is seeking restitution of $1 million it says it accidentally paid the host due to an accounting error after he left the company when contract negotiations stalled in 2013.
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Fresh off their victory in their lawsuit against SIRIUSXM RADIO, THE TURTLES — MARK VOLMAN and HOWARD KAYLAN, also known as FLO AND EDDIE — have filed a class action lawsuit against PANDORA, alleging the same violation of state copyright protection for pre-1972 recordings, reports THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. The suit was filed in CALIFORNIA, where U.S. District Judge PHILIP GUTIERREZ granted summary judgment for the plaintiffs in the SIRIUSXM case.

The PANDORA suit seeks at least $25 million for unpaid royalties.
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U.S. District Judge PHILIP GUTIERREZ has ruled that SIRIUSXM RADIO must pay copyright fees for pre-1972 recordings. The ruling granted summary judgment in the case brought by THE TURTLES — MARK VOLMAN and HOWARD KAYLAN, suing as FLO AND EDDIE INC. — alleging that the satellite service’s playing of their pre-1972 music violated CALIFORNIA state laws.

The dispute could extend to all digital music services; PANDORA is a defendant in a similar suit.

The suit hinged on the idea that state laws cover pre-1972 recordings, which are explicitly not covered under federal copyright law. The court noted that CALIFORNIA law applies and a specific statute, section 980(a)(2) of the state Civil Code, extends protection to authors of works made prior to FEBRUARY 15th, 1972 through FEBRUARY 15th, 2047. And the ruling suggests that the copyright owner of pre-1972 recordings has the exclusive rights to publicly perform or use the recording.

The court denied summary judgment on the plaintiff’s claims that the reproduction of the music through digital copying constituted another violation.

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U.S. Magistrate Judge JOEL C. HOPPE has recommended that a VIRGINIA district court dismiss VERSTANDIG BROADCASTING’s suit against SOUNDEXCHANGE that sought declaratory judgment for its assertion that the 150-mile exemption to the Copyright Act allowing broadcast AM/FM stations not to have to pay royalties to copyright owners of sound recordings should apply to “geo-fenced” Internet streams that do not extend beyond 150 miles as well.

HOPPE’s 27-page advisory ruling, which can be accepted or rejected by the district court, said that “the purely voluntary cost of setting up a geo-fenced simulcast is not a cognizable injury, much less one fairly traceable to SOUNDEXCHANGE’s interpretation of sections 112 and 114” of the law. VERSTANDIG’s “unwillingness to forge ahead” with the geofencing project absent assurances from SOUNDEXCHANGE that it would be exempt from royalty payments, the judge said, was not shown to have been “effectively coerced.”

He also noted that SOUNDEXCHANGE itself holds no copyrights and that VERSTANDIG did not allege facts from which the court can reasonably infer that SOUNDEXCHANGE caused its uncertainty over the rules as opposed to individual copyright holders, who could also separately enforce their copyrights against the plaintiff.

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ASCAP, BMI, SONY/ATV MUSIC PUBLISHING and UNIVERSAL MUSIC PUBLISHING GROUP have all received CIDs (Civil Investigative Demand For Documents) from THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, according to the WALL STREET JOURNAL.

The DOJ is seeking materials related to a wide range of licensing issues, possible pricing coordination among music publishing companies, including the two publishers’ efforts to withdraw their rights from ASCAP and BMI’s licensing agreements with PANDORA MEDIA INC.

Earlier this year, U.S. District Judge DENISE COTE, in a ruling on the matter, wrote on page 95 in her rate-setting decision that “SONY and UNIVERSAL had coordinated with ASCAP to drive PANDORA’s licensing rates higher by withdrawing their digital rights from ASCAP and striking their own, direct deals with PANDORA in 2012 at higher rates, thereby creating a higher ‘benchmark’ for ASCAP’s license.”

In a statement, ASCAP said: “We welcome the DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE’s investigation into the music licensing marketplace, and we are cooperating fully with DOJ staff to make sure they have the information they need.”

Meanwhile, THE TENNESSEAN reports that SONY/ATV CHAIRMAN & CEO MARTIN BANDIER wrote a letter to songwriters and publisher saying, that SONY/ATV “will explore withdrawing all of its licensing rights [from the two performing rights organizations] if federal regulators don’t allow for the partial withdrawal of its digital rights.”

Back on JUNE 5th, SONY/ATV and UNIVERSAL had already tried and failed to reclaim their digital catalog rights and were rejected by the special Federal Rate Court.

BANDIER also indicated that the consent decree review by the DOJ “is positive because it shows that the DOJ is taking seriously the concept of modifying the consent decreed. Hopefully, by the end of the year, we can have something positive, a modified consent decree, so we won’t have to withdraw.”

Read more on this by clicking the following link: DOJ Investigates Major Music Publishing Companies

A federal judge has dismissed Insane Clown Posse’s lawsuit against the FBI and the Justice Department, allowing the agencies to continue classifying the group’s fans, called Juggalos, as a “gang.” According to the Associated Press‘s Tuesday report, U.S. District Judge Robert Cleland ruled last week that because a 2011 FBI report on gangs is “descriptive,” and not ” prescriptive,” it doesn’t break any laws. The group intends to appeal the decision.

Insane Clown Posse’s suit was supported by the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan. It claimed that the FBI report’s classification of Juggalos as a “loosely organized hybrid gang” was “unwarranted and unlawful,” and prompted local law enforcement officials to harass fans wearing jewelry or other symbols of the group. The ACLU of Michigan’s legal director Michael J. Steinberg said this in a statement about the decision:

“The only way to remedy this injustice for all innocent Juggalos is to start with the root of the problem – the FBI’s arbitrary and erroneous branding of hundreds of thousands of music fans as gang members. There is no doubt that the FBI created this problem and the solution begins there as well. Otherwise, we’ll be playing whack-o-mole to stop local law enforcement agencies from discriminating against our clients, when the agencies are just following the FBI’s lead.”

As the AP noted, the classification doesn’t show up anywhere in the FBI’s most recent report on gangs, however, the 2011 report is still used by local law enforcement agencies. The report details criminal activity by some self-identified Juggalos, but even the FBI’s assessment is based on the criminal activity of a small minority of participants in ICP’s fan base.

Juggalos — usually pictured wearing makeup similar to that of the ICP duo themselves — are probably best-known for their antics during the annual “gathering of the juggalos” festivals. The next one is in a couple of weeks.

Read more of this story on: The Wire