Bit Parts

The long-running, recording-artist class action complaints against Sony Music Entertainment appear to have ended. The artists, through named plaintiffs Allman Brothers Band (on behalf of Sony Music artists) and The Youngbloods (on behalf of artists who recorded for BMG labels now owned by Sony) primarily sought 50% of net revenues the labels receive from digital download sales of the classic artists' recordings. Sony argued download sales qualify as through “normal retail channels,” which would give artists a lower contractual royalty rate. Speaking from the audience during a recent SXSW Conference panel on music cases (the author of this column was a panel member), Los Angeles attorney Gerald B. Weiner, an attorney for the Allman Brothers Band, noted the download suits have settled, though he didn't provide details. Weiner commented after the panel discussed F.B.T. Productions, LLC v. Aftermath Records, 621 F.3d 958 (9th Cir. 2010), in which the Ninth Circuit decided that sales through digital download providers like iTunes are third-party licenses for which F.B.T., the production company with rights to Eminem's early recordings, should receive 50% from Aftermath/UMG. (The U.S. Supreme Court has now declined to hear UMG's appeal of the F.B.T. ruling.) Label/artist contracts today typically address the specific artist royalty rate for download sales.