In dual lawsuits filed on Feb. 7, 2022, the estates of Robin Williams and George Carlin accuse Pandora Media of willfully infringing the legendary comedians’ registered copyrights in their “spoken word compositions”—their standup routines—by streaming the sound recordings that embody those routines without a license for the spoken word works. Robin Williams Trust v. Pandora Media, No. 22-cv-815 (C.D. Cal. Feb. 7, 2022); Main Sequence, Ltd. v. Pandora Media, No. 22-cv-810 (C.D. Cal. Feb. 7, 2022).

The Williams complaint alleges that Pandora infringed 27 Robin Williams spoken word works (SWWs), which were included in the albums Reality … What a Concept and A Night at the Met. The 56 allegedly infringed George Carlin SWWs are contained on the albums An Evening With Wally Londo, Class Clown (including a performance of the famous—or infamous—”Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television” routine), Classic Gold, George Carlin on Comedy, On the Road, SOFA—Comedy Clips, The George Carlin Collection, Toledo Window Box, and You Are All Diseased.

This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.

To view this content, please continue to their sites.

Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Why am I seeing this?

LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.

For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]