Flo & Eddie Argues for Florida Pre-1972 Performance Royalties Right

Flo & Eddie repeated their belief Florida law grants them a “common law” performance royalties right for songs recorded before 1972 because of a 1943 state Supreme Court decision and changes to state law enacted in 1941. Flo & Eddie, who own The Turtles' “Happy Together” and the rest of the band's music, argued in a brief to the Florida Supreme Court that a common law pre-1972 performance right exists in the state, as part of its lawsuit against SiriusXM. The court is reviewing SiriusXM's appeal of a 2015 U.S. District Court ruling in Miami that found a performance right exists in state law after the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals delayed a ruling in the case in June (see 1606290085). Flo & Eddie said it “did not forfeit its common law copyright by selling records.” Claims “for unfair competition, conversion, and civil theft of a sound recording, that are grounded on constitutionally protected property interests under Florida's very broad definition of property as 'anything of value,' exist independently from Florida's common law copyright to perform and reproduce a sound recording,” Flo & Eddie said. “Finally, under Florida law, by creating buffer copies of Flo & Eddie's sound recordings, Sirius XM has violated Flo & Eddie's copyright in the reproduction of its sound recording, irrespective of the duration of the copy.” Flo & Eddie was expected to argue in a brief to the New York Court of Appeals that a similar common-law pre-1972 performance right exists in that state as part of the state court's review of SiriusXM's appeal of a Flo & Eddie lawsuit to the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals (see 1608050059). A copy of Flo & Eddie's brief to the New York Court of Appeals wasn't immediately available.