ALBANY, Ga. (Legal Newsline) - Two music holding owners are suing one of the largest Internet radio services over alleged copyright violations.
Arthur Sheridan and Barbara Sheridan, individually and on behalf of others similarly situated, filed a class action lawsuit on Sept. 30 in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia against iHeartMedia Inc., alleging that the Internet service violated Georgia copyright laws.
According to the complaint, in the 1950s and 1960s, Arthur Sheridan owned and operated several recording companies specializing in recording and selling doo-wop, jazz, and rhythm and blues music. Some of the musicians included The Flamingos, Little Walter, and the Moonglows. The Sheridans own several master records of the music and allege that iHeartMedia regularly streams one or more of their pre-1972 recordings but did not obtain authorization to stream and paid them compensation or royalties, the complaint states.
Therefore, the Sheridans are demanding a trial by jury and are suing for three times the amount of damages sustained caused by the defendant’s violations or three times the amount of fair market compensation or royalties that should have been paid, punitive damages, cost of attorney fees, divesture gains, an injunction against the defendant forbidding them from further copyright violations, and any other relief as is necessary. They are represented by Joseph P. Durham Jr. of Lee Durham LLC in Albany, Ga.; the offices of Howard Foster PC in Chicago; Abner and Fullerton LLP in Dana Point, Calif.; and the Law Office of Justin Sobodash in West Hollywood, Calif.
U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia case number 1:15-cv-00160-LJA