Friday, April 28, 2006

Rockers Sue Sony Over Download Royalties


Image source: AllmanBrothersBand.com


Charles Duhigg writes in The LA Times:

Two of the bigger rock bands of the past are suing over the future of their music.

In a lawsuit filed Thursday in New York, the Allman Brothers Band and Cheap Trick allege that they and other groups are being shortchanged by Sony Music, a division of music giant Sony BMG, as digital music downloads explode. The suit seeks class-action status.

Both bands contend that when Sony Music sells downloads of their songs through such services as iTunes, it amounts to the licensing of their music, not its distribution, entitling them to more generous royalties. Currently, the lawsuit says, Sony Music accounts for such sales as "physical phonorecords," deducting a 20% fee for packaging even though downloads are electronic.

The suit also alleges that Sony Music deducts 15% of revenue for "breakage" as it would with a CD or cassette.

More here.

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