- Pandora is being sued by several comedians for allegedly broadcasting their works without a licence.
- George Lopez is seeking $5.5 million from the streaming service.
- Comedians demand their legal and financial due yet rely on streaming to promote their acts.
Pandora is being sued by several comedians, including Lewis Black and Andrew Dice Clay, for allegedly broadcasting their works without the required licence. Now, George Lopez is seeking $5.5 million from the streaming service.
Lopez filed suit on Tuesday, alleging Pandora streamed two of his comedy albums, Right Now Right Now and Team Leader, without paying him royalties or getting the necessary rights. “[Pandora] decided it would infringe now to ensure it had this very valuable intellectual property on its platform to remain competitive, and deal with the consequences later,” the filing said. “Later is now,” according to the petition. The future is today. SiriusXM, the parent company of Pandora, did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Lopez’s lawyer (Richard Busch, who represents the other claimants) contends that his work is entitled to two copyrights – one for the recording and one for the literary work. The latter, referred to as publishing rights, is standard for musical compositions but novel for spoken-word works. The outcome of these trials could determine whether spoken-word content like podcasting is eligible for copyright.
The continuous conflict has caused the streams to assume a defensive stance. Spotify withdrew John Mulaney and Tiffany Haddish’s comedy albums after discussions broke down. Pandora, which is susceptible due to an ill-advised financial statement that indicated it streams comedy without a licence, purportedly forces comedians to surrender their publishing rights.
It is a chaotic situation. Streamers don’t want to pay royalties for spoken-word content, which is cheaper than music. Comedians demand their legal and financial due yet rely on streaming to promote their acts. A settlement is improbable in the near future, and the participation of industry heavyweights such as George Lopez will only increase the tension.
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