Not funny: Unlicensed use of jokes
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The estates of comedians Robin Williams and George Carlin are suing Sirius XM’s Pandora Media Inc., claiming the online music service owes royalties for streaming their material millions of times, Reuters reported Monday.
The Williams and Carlin estates, along with comedians Bill Engvall, Ron White and Andrew Dice Clay, have not received a "fraction of a penny" from Pandora, they said in five separate federal lawsuits filed in Los Angeles by the same attorney, the wire service reported.
The lawsuits ask for damages ranging from over $4 million for Mr. Williams’ estate to nearly $13 million for Mr. White’s.
The lawsuits say Pandora's licenses to the comedians' recordings do not include their underlying jokes. While companies like Pandora often negotiate licenses to music rights with performing-rights organizations like the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, these groups don't license literary works like spoken-word comedy, the lawsuits contend.
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