Global Music Rights Sues Entravision Over Unpaid Royalties

RADIO ONLINE | Thursday, October 3, 2019

Global Music Rights

Global Music Rights, a group headed by Irving Azoff that represents artists such as Drake and Bruce Springsteen, is suing Entravision Communications, reports the Los Angeles Times. GMR alleges that the company played its songs more than 10,000 times over the last couple of years without paying sogwriters or royalties, according to the lawsuit filed Thursday in federal court in Los Angeles. GMR is seeking $150,000 for each infringement, the maximum allowed, for a total of more than $1.5 billion in damages.

The newspaper says Entravision did not immediately respond to a request for comment and some of the most played songs include "Fly Like an Eagle" bu Steve Miller Band, "Enter Sandman" by Metallica and "Black" by Pearl Jam. Azoff founded Global Music Rights started the Los Angeles-based company in 2013 with Randy Grimmett, who previously worked at ASCAP. The goal was to ultimately try and increase rates paid to songwriters.

Global Music Rights' current catalog spans thousands of tracks, including hits from Bruce Springsteen, Bruno Mars and Drake. Most of the large station groups, including iHeartMedia and Townsquare Media have agreed to licensing, while Entravision hasn't responded to five offers from the licensing firm according to the suit.

"We keep going back to them offering the license," Azoff said. "They have ignored us. They are a sophisticated company; they have general counsels and nearly $300 million in revenue. They have made a local decision to play our music without a license."

O'Melveny attorney Daniel Petrocelli, who is representing GMR, said, "Global Music Rights' mission is to ensure that songwriters receive fair pay. Entravision used our writers' songs to drive listeners and earn millions of dollars in revenue, yet it paid our writers nothing. Entravision is a large, sophisticated company and knew exactly what it was doing. Global Music Rights will defend the rights of our writers against such intellectual property theft."