Pittman v. Pandora Media, LLC

Pittman v Pandora Media, LLC

2026 NY Slip Op 31029(U)

March 18, 2026

Supreme Court, New York County

Docket Number: Index No. 156048/2025

Judge: Kathleen Waterman-Marshall

Cases posted with a "30000" identifier, i.e., 2013 NY Slip

Op 30001(U), are republished from various New York

State and local government sources, including the New

York State Unified Court System's eCourts Service.

This opinion is uncorrected and not selected for official

publication.

file:///LRB-ALB-FS1/Vol1/ecourts/Process/covers/NYSUP.1560482025.NEW_YORK.002.LBLX000_TO.html[03/25/2026 3:45:47 PM]

INDEX NO. 156048/2025

NYSCEF DOC. NO. 105 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 03/18/2026

SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK

NEW YORK COUNTY

PRESENT: HON. KATHLEEN WATERMAN-MARSHALL PART 31M

Justice

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------X INDEX NO. 156048/2025

JEFFREY S PITTMAN, JEFFREY S. PITTMAN, ERIN E

MACK, MOTION DATE 01/28/2026

Plaintiff, MOTION SEQ. NO. 005

-v-

PANDORA MEDIA, LLC,DITTO LTD., SIRIUS XM DECISION + ORDER ON

HOLDINGS INC., MOTION

Defendant.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------X

The following e-filed documents, listed by NYSCEF document number (Motion 005) 72, 73, 74, 75, 76,

77, 78, 79, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91

were read on this motion to/for ALTERNATE SERVICE .

Upon the foregoing documents, the motion by plaintiffs Jeffrey S. Pittman and Erin Mack

(“Plaintiffs”) for leave to serve defendant Ditto Ltd. (“Ditto”) by email and overnight mail, is

granted.

Background

In brief and broad strokes, as alleged in the pleadings, Plaintiffs are independent music

creators and performers who create, perform and distribute children’s music. In connection with

their work, Plaintiffs allegedly signed up for distribution services with Ditto, a United Kingdom

music distributor. It is further alleged that Ditto distributed Plaintiffs’ music to defendant

Pandora Media LLC (“Pandora”) for streaming on its platforms; Pandora is an alleged subsidiary

of defendant Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (“Sirius”) (see Complaint, NYSCEF Doc. No. 1). In May

of 2025, Plaintiffs commenced this action to recover damages caused by Ditto’s alleged

defamatory statement about Plaintiffs’ alleged fraudulent streaming activity on their content and

Ditto’s consequent decision to permanently close Plaintiffs’ account and remove all their content

from the platforms (id.).

Plaintiffs effectuated service of the original summons and complaint upon Pandora and

Sirius in May 2025 (NYSCEF Doc. Nos. 16-18). Those defendants timely sought removal of the

matter to the federal trial court, which request was denied (NYSCEF Doc. Nos. 19, 24); and then

moved to dismiss the original summons and complaint upon the grounds that, inter alia, Ditto, a

necessary party, had not been served with the complaint (NYSCEF Doc. Nos. 34-38). In

response, Plaintiffs filed an Amended Summons and Complaint (NYSCEF Doc. No. 39-40), and

moved for an extension of time to serve Ditto, a U.K. company, by the Hague Convention

(NYSCEF Doc. No. 44-48). Pandora and Sirius then moved for an extension of time to answer or

move against the Amended Summons and Amended Complaint (NYSCEF Doc. Nos. 49-55).

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NYSCEF DOC. NO. 105 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 03/18/2026

By Decision and Order dated September 30, 2025 (NYSCEF Doc. Nos. 67-69), this

Court, inter alia: (1) granted Plaintiffs an extension of time to serve Ditto with the Amended

Summons and Amended Complaint to March 10, 2026, and directed them to file to NYSCEF the

affidavit(s) of service showing service in accordance with the Hague Convention; (2) granted

Pandora and Sirius an extension of time to answer or move against the Amended Complaint to

45 days from the date Plaintiffs file the affidavit(s) of service upon Ditto; and (3) resolved

Pandora and Sirius’ motion to dismiss the original complaint as moot.

At bottom, the expected result of all of the preliminary motion practice was that Pandora

and Sirius, as well as Ditto, would answer or move against the Amended Complaint within 45

days of March 10, 2026 (or by April 24, 2026). Naturally, all discovery is stayed until such time

as any pleadings dismissal motions are decided and issue is joined (see Bd. of Managers of

Carriage House Condo. v Healy, 195 AD3d 403, 403 [1st Dept 2021] [“Upon defendants’

service of a pre-answer motion to dismiss pursuant to CPLR 3211, discovery in the action was

automatically stayed (see CPLR 3214[b])”]).

Unfortunately, however, Plaintiffs have been unsuccessful in their attempt to serve Ditto

in accordance with the Hague Convention by March 10, 2026. Specifically, HM Courts &

Tribunals Service, the entity engaged by Plaintiffs to effect service at Ditto’s registered office

address at 29-31 Parliament Street in Liverpool, England, certified that it was “unable to gain

access” to the premises. This motion for leave to serve Ditto by email, pursuant to CPLR 311(b),

ensued (NYSCEF Doc. Nos. 72-79).

In support of the motion, Plaintiffs demonstrate that they attempted service in accordance

with the Hague Convention; that such service failed; and that they have corresponded with Ditto

at two identifiable email addresses, which they assert may be used to serve the pleadings. In

opposition, Pandora and Sirius argue that a single attempt at personal service is insufficient to

satisfy the Hague Convention and that Ditto’s e-mail responses to Plaintiffs may be auto-

generated AI responses, thus demonstrating that the email addresses may not be viable

alternative methods of service.

Discussion

Although “service of process by e-mail is not directly authorized by either the CPLR or

the Hague Convention, it is not prohibited under either state or federal law, or the Hague

Convention, given appropriate circumstances” (Alfred E. Mann Living Tr. v ETIRC Aviation

S.a.r.l., 78 AD3d 137, 141-142 [1st Dept 2010] [recognizing that New York courts and federal

courts have “authorized e-mail service of process as an appropriate alternative method when the

statutory methods have proven ineffective” (collecting cases)]). Under the CPLR, a plaintiff must

only demonstrate that service by the methods in CPLR 308(1) (personal), (2) (suitable age and

discretion), and (4) (nail and mail) is “impracticable” before the court will permit alternate

means of service (Home Fed. Sav. Bank v Versace, 252 AD2d 480, 480-481 [2d Dept 1998]

[explaining that impracticability “does not require the applicant to satisfy the more stringent

standard of ‘due diligence’ under CPLR 308(4), or to make a showing that ‘actual prior attempts

to serve a party under each and every method of the statute have been undertaken’”]).

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Here, Plaintiffs have demonstrated that they attempted personal service upon Ditto in

accordance with the Hague Convention at Ditto’s registered office address, but that such attempt

failed due to the process server’s inability to gain access. In this Court’s considered view, this

satisfied Plaintiff’s obligation to attempt to effectuate personal service on Ditto. The court’s

decision in Yolanda Management Corp. v Microalgo, Inc., 2025 WL 1070453, at *7 (New York

Sup. Ct. 2025), does not compel a different conclusion. In Yolanda Management Corp., the

Commercial Division Justice declined to permit alternate email service upon the individual

defendant in China because, although plaintiff’s initial attempts to serve the defendant were at

incomplete addresses, the defendant had “disclosed his Beijing Address in a public SEC filing,

and there is no indication that service on this address is impracticable” (id.). Here, to the

contrary, Plaintiffs have attempted to serve Ditto at its registered office address, and have shown

that such service is impracticable.

The Court is cognizant of the potential pitfalls of permitting Plaintiffs to serve Ditto at its

two email addresses – investigations@dittomusic.com and support@dittomusic.com – insofar as

these addresses appear to be for general customer inquiries and not specific corporate email

addresses of Ditto’s authorized agents or representatives. However, given Plaintiffs’ showing

that they received responses from these identified email addresses – which Ditto itself holds out

as proper means by which to communicate with it – a court could readily conclude that service

by e-mail at these addresses is “reasonably calculated, under all the circumstances, to apprise the

defendants of the action brought against them” (Snyder v Alternate Energy Inc., 19 Misc3d 954,

962 [Civ. Ct. New York County 2008] [citing Dobkin v Chapman, 21 NY2d 490, 505 [1968]).

Consequently, Plaintiffs’ motion for an order permitting it to serve Ditto via email is

granted. However, to ensure that Ditto obtains notice of this action, the Court directs Plaintiffs to

meet several conditions for email service upon Ditto, and to additionally serve it via

international, certified and/or guaranteed mail, all with proof of service.

In addition, all defenses, including lack of personal jurisdiction and improper service, are

preserved for each of the defendants, and not waived. Defendants also have the right to seek any

other or further relief for Plaintiffs’ failure to comply with the directives herein.

Accordingly, it is hereby

ORDERED that that Plaintiffs’ motion for an order permitting alternate service of the

amended pleadings upon Ditto Ltd. is granted; and it is further

ORDERED that Plaintiffs shall serve Ditto Ltd. with the Amended Summons and

Amended Complaint, together with a copy of this Decision and Order, at

investigations@dittomusic.com and support@dittomusic.com by March 20, 2026; and it is

further

ORDERED that Plaintiffs shall, no later than March 20, 2026, serve Ditto Ltd. with the

Amended Summons and Complaint, together with a copy of this Decision and Order, by

international certified and/or guaranteed mail to its registered office address in Liverpool,

England; and it is further

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ORDERED that Plaintiffs shall, no later than March 27, 2026, file proof of email service

upon Ditto, consisting of: (1) an affidavit outlining such service; (2) copies of Plaintiffs emails

transmitting the pleadings and this Decision and Order to Ditto at its email addresses; and (3) any

delivery/read receipts or other objective evidence of receipt from Ditto; and it is further

ORDERED that Plaintiffs shall, no later than March 27, 2026, file proof of international

certified and/or guaranteed mail upon Ditto Ltd., consisting of: (1) an affidavit outlining such

service; (2) copies of the international certified and/or guaranteed mailing receipts, together with

any proof of receipt and/or delivery by Ditto at its registered address; and it is further

ORDERED that the time for Pandora Media LLC and Sirius XM Holdings Inc. to

answer or move against the Amended Complaint is extended to 45 days after the date Plaintiffs

file to NYSCEF the proof of service upon defendant Ditto Ltd.; and it is further

ORDERED that all discovery is stayed until such time as any pleadings dismissal

motions are decided and issue is joined.

3/18/2026

DATE

[~~--·~~ KATHLEEN WATERMAN-MARSHALL,

J.S.C.

□ ~ ~

CHECK ONE: CASE DISPOSED X NON-FINAL DISPOSITION

X GRANTED DENIED GRANTED IN PART OTHER

APPLICATION: SETTLE ORDER SUBMIT ORDER

CHECK IF APPROPRIATE: INCLUDES TRANSFER/REASSIGN FIDUCIARY APPOINTMENT REFERENCE

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