With co-counsel Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP, principal Oliver Rocos obtained dismissal of an antitrust counterclaim brought by subscription-based audio streaming service Pandora against his client Word Collections, Inc., a performing rights collection agency that represents songwriters (including Metallica) and comedians (including Billy Crystal, Bill Hicks, and Jerry Seinfeld) and licenses their copyrighted works to streaming services and digital broadcasters.
The counterclaim alleged that Word Collections had created a monopolistic portfolio of comedic works and was conspiring with the comedians to foist on Pandora a blanket license for those works at a supracompetitive price. Word Collections denied the allegations and moved to dismiss the counterclaim on the basis that Pandora had failed to allege it had a monopoly or had conspired with anyone. The Court agreed and dismissed the claims.
In an article by Law360, Mr. Rocos stated, “We are very pleased with the ruling, which allows Word Collections to get back to its business of licensing works from some of the world’s most iconic comedians and songwriters.”
Read more about the case here:
The Hollywood Reporter
Bloomberg Law
