Sony ripping off The Allman's & Cheap Trick

[RonJonSurfer]

Allman Brothers and Cheap Trick Sue Sony

The bands claim Sony cheated them out of royalties for songs downloaded over the internet.

Rock bands Cheap Trick and The Allman Brothers are suing Sony Music, alleging the company cheated them out of royalties for songs downloaded legally over the internet.

The musicians filed suits in New York City on Thursday, claiming Sony failed to live up to a contract requiring that it pay its artists half of the net revenue it receives from licensing songs to download services such as iTunes and Napster.

Sony had been paying the two bands less than that amount, in part because their record deals pre-date the existence of legal music sales online.

The lawsuit claims the record company is treating the digital downloads like traditional record sales, rather than licensed music, triggering a different royalty deal.

Brian Caplan, who is representing the bands says, "I feel strongly that the record company is doing the wrong thing."

The bands are seeking to have the suit declared a class action, which would cover all Sony artists who signed deals between 1962 and 2002.

While the amount of money at stake per song is small, it could add up to millions of dollars for Sony if a court rules in favor of the bands.

Copyright World Entertainment News Network 2006

[Jimmy1104]

I would be curious to see if ASCAP steps in on behalf of the artists involved. I can see where this will cost SONY a helluva lot of money if they lose the suit. Of course it will probably be in court for years.

This is just another example of big music business taking advantage of their stable of performers.