Comedian George Lopez Files $5.5M Copyright Infringement Lawsuit Against Pandora
According to a lawsuit filed this week by comedian George Lopez, all Pandora had to do to negotiate streaming rights for two of his popular comedy specials was contact him directly. Instead, Lopez’s complaint says that Pandora considered the comedian a “cash cow”—alleging that Lopez is yet another comedian whose copyrighted materials have been illegally streamed to Pandora listeners without the streaming service securing proper licensing or sharing royalties.
“Pandora found a cash cow in a new revenue stream, and in a brazen business decision determined that the risk was worth the gain—that is until now,” Lopez’s lawyer, Richard S. Busch of the Los Angeles law firm King & Ballow, wrote in the complaint.
Busch was already representing other comedians suing Pandora, including Lewis Black, Ron White, and the estates of late comedians George Carlin and Robin Williams. According to The Wrap’s exclusive report, all the lawsuits have been consolidated and will be heard in the California Central District Court before the end of August.
