Supreme Court to hear Turtles copyright case

The Florida Supreme Court will hear arguments April 6 in a copyright-infringement lawsuit filed by founding members of the 1960s rock group the Turtles against SiriusXM satellite radio.

Flo & Eddie Inc. --- a California-based company whose principals are Turtles vocalists Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan --- filed the lawsuit in 2013 alleging copyright infringement involving music made prior to 1972.

Flo & Eddie had won suits against SiriusXM in California and New York, but a federal district court judge in Florida sided in 2015 with the satellite broadcaster, finding that nothing in Florida statutes or common law dealt with copyrights of recordings made before 1972, when the federal Sound Recordings Act went into effect.

The case went to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which asked the Florida Supreme Court to take up the issues involving state law.