A California Federal Judge gave a split decision in the competing anti-trust lawsuits filed by Global Music Rights and the Radio Music Licensing Committee against each other. Each entity had filed a motion to dismiss each others’ anti-trust lawsuits but the Judge denied both motions.
Senior U.S. Western District of California Judge Terry Hatter wrote in both rulings that GMR and RMLC had both alleged “sufficient facts to state a claim” for each of its three (antitrust) claims against one another. “However, whether [GMR and RMLC] can, ultimately, prove [their] claims is not a proper consideration at this juncture,” according to Judge Hatter, who used the same exact wording in both rulings.
That means that the antitrust suits will indeed go to trial.
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In a statement, GMR said that the Judge’s ruling “clears the way for GMR to challenge the cartel power which the RMLC has exerted over songwriters for decades.” The statement further claimed that the Judge’s ruling means “the court rejected the core arguments made by the RMLC in an attempt to justify its decades of illegal collusion to pay songwriters below-market rates.”
The RMLC likewise claimed a “significant victory” from the Judge’s ruling. “The major news here is that the court agreed that if RMLC can prove up the facts alleged…then GMR is a per se illegal cartel,” RMLC executive director Bill Velez said in a statement. “GMR’s entire reason for being is to raise the price of pre-existing music licenses, through what the antitrust laws call ‘concerted action.'”
On the other hand, the GMR statement calls the RMLC a “78-year-old radio cartel that perpetuates unfair licensing practices against songwriters.”
“We look forward to having our day in court with the RMLC cartel to stand up for songwriters,” said GMR Founder Irving Azoff. “It’s well past due for them to finally be treated fairly by broadcast radio.”
At the same time that the Judge ruling lets both anti-trust lawsuits proceed, they allowed the friend of the court brief from the National Assn. of Broadcasters to be entered into the proceedings. GMR’s lawyers O’Melveny & Myers LLP had argued against allowing that brief to be entered.
In a third decision, the Judge denied the RMLC’s attempt to seek monetary damages against GMR, finding that the radio cartel lacks standing to pursue a financial remedy.