NEW YORK (Reuters) – On Thursday, Sirius XM Holdings Inc secured the dismissal of a lawsuit filed by John Melendez, famously known as Stuttering John, who claimed the company unlawfully exploited his celebrity status on channels dedicated to Howard Stern.
Melendez, who left Stern’s radio show in 2004 to become the announcer for NBC’s “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno,” filed the lawsuit last August. He sought unspecified damages, accusing Sirius of using his name, persona, and voice from old recordings without permission to attract listeners and sell advertising.
U.S. District Judge Paul Crotty in Manhattan ruled that federal copyright law preempted Melendez’s claims that Sirius violated his publicity rights under California law.
Crotty also noted that despite Melendez’s 15-year tenure and approximately 13,000 hours on “The Howard Stern Show,” he failed to demonstrate injury or that Sirius illegally used his persona to promote its services, including non-Stern channels.
“The commercial advantage Sirius gains from playing the HSS Archives and running the advertisements flows from the rebroadcasting of the copyrightable sound recordings themselves, not from Melendez’s identity,” Judge Crotty wrote.
The lawsuit was dismissed with prejudice, meaning it cannot be refiled.
Melendez’s lawyer, Michael Popok, indicated that an appeal is likely, stating that Judge Crotty “adopted a unique analytic framework which we believe is inconsistent with prevailing law.”
Sirius and its legal representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Howard Stern was not named as a defendant in the case.
Melendez, who has had a speech impediment since childhood, was dubbed Stuttering John by Stern. He gained notoriety for asking provocative questions to celebrities such as Billy Crystal, Ringo Starr, and the Dalai Lama.
Melendez departed Stern’s show just before Stern transitioned to Sirius from nationally syndicated radio.
The case is Melendez v. Sirius XM Radio Inc, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 20-06620.
