California judge blocks Sirius XM’s immediate appeal in pre-1972 copyright case

siriusxm logo canvasU.S. District Judge Philip Gutierrez has denied Sirius XM’s motion to start an immediate appeal for his summary judgment in favor of members of The Turtles, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The satellite radio company and the classic rock band have been stuck in a legal battle about whether Sirius should have paid public performance royalties for songs recorded before 1972, when federal copyright law took effect.

Gutierrez issued the first of several recent rulings against Sirius XM this September in California. He denied the motion to begin an appeal with a stern rebuke to the company, writing that its “repetitive or off-point theories” had left the court “largely unpersuaded and sometimes baffled.” In the new ruling, he refused the immediate appeal on claims that it would delay instead of advance the end of the lawsuit.

Anna Washenko