Turtles band and Pandora dig in for long fight

Parties in a long-running legal dispute between Pandora Inc. and the 60s funk rock band The Turtles indicated Monday they're in it for the long haul.

Band members Flo and Eddie first brought their case in 2013 over royalties owed by Pandora, Spotify Inc., and other streaming radio services to pre-1972 songholders, who weren't protected under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976. Winning early victories in class actions brought in New York and California federal court, The Turtles' prospects were suddenly upended with the implementation of the 2018 Music Modernization Act.

In October, a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel remanded the case back to district court in an unpublished decision, reasoning it should have a chance to reevaluate the validity of the pre-1972 litigation in light of the Music Modernization Act. The plaintiffs had previously petitioned to the State Supreme Court to validate their long-running litigation, but the high court deferred as well to the MMA in a decision in May. Flo & Eddie Inc. v. Sirius XM Radio Inc., 13-cv-05693 (C.D. Cal., filed Aug 3 2013).

On Monday, U.S. District Judge Philip Gutierrez told counsel he planned to stick to a schedule set forth in the case by Pandora counsel Andrew Gass of Latham & Watkins LLP. Gass also indicated Pandora was planning to stand by its threats to once again have The Turtles' claims dismissed under anti-SLAPP, the filing deadline for which would be Jan. 21.

A discovery deadline on the anti-SLAPP motion has been tentatively set for June with a final hearing projected for August.

-- Steven Crighton