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CD Price-Fixing Suit Ruling

Posted by michael on from the money-for-nothing dept.

Jay Langhurst writes "As the AP reported Friday, if you filed a claim before March 3, 2003 online or otherwise you'll be getting a gift in the mail from those monopolistic music companies in the form of a check for about $13!"

16 of 292 comments (clear)

  1. I dunno... by Huxley_Dunsany · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'm still waiting for my check from Bill Gates... I must've forwarded that email to a billion people! :-) Huxley

  2. $13.00! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Now I can go and buy another CD!

    1. Re:$13.00! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      In other news, RIAA announced a new minimum price of $14 per CD.

    2. Re:$13.00! by jdunlevy · · Score: 5, Informative

      Might also consider sending your $13 (and/or other money you want to give to a good cause) to the Future of Music coalition, which describes itself as "a not-for-profit think tank based in Washington, DC that strives for the creation of a musicians' middle class. The FMC's primary goal is to educate musicians and the public at large about some of the critical issues that are shaping the policy debate in the music/technology space." They're decidedly anit-RIAA and pro-musician and favor alternatives to RIAA-controlled distribution.

  3. Wow! by The+Bungi · · Score: 5, Funny

    $13.00? I'd probably get more for recycling my stash of AOL CDs.

  4. When.... by Nagatzhul · · Score: 5, Insightful

    do they lower the prices?

    --
    "All I want is a warm bed and a kind word and unlimited power." - Ashleigh Brilliant
  5. RIAA Numbers by Paddyish · · Score: 5, Funny

    What they forgot to mention was that the RIAA will claim that the $13 should actually be $0.13 due to the extreme value of a dollar.

  6. The heck with that, I want lower prices. by drdanny_orig · · Score: 5, Funny

    Now that it's been decided they're guilty, can we expect a roll-back of prices? I wouldn't pay $19.99 list for God's Own Words® let alone Madonna's.

    --
    .nosig
  7. Wow, a whole $13 by Schlemphfer · · Score: 5, Insightful
    I'm looking forward to receiving my $13. I bought a hundred or so CDs between 1988 and last year, so I figure this check covers about 1% of the total I've been overcharged. In any case, the recording industry will never get another nickel from me. The RIAA disgusts me so much that I've stopped buying new CD's entirely. Now I just buy used, listen to it a while, and sell it. The money I save goes to seeing the musicians I like perform locally, and sometimes to buying higher margin stuff at their shows, like T-shirts and so forth.

    We've got the recording industry in a vulnerable spot. It's time to withhold cash from them and go in for the kill.

    --
    I'm generally "Interesting," "Insightful," and even "Funny" here. What the hell happens to me at parties?
  8. what ever you do, don't buy a cD! by pioneer · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Yeah yeah... 13$ is about the price of a CD... so whatever you don't feed it right back into the machine that is the RIAA... instead go donate it to a good cause like the couple below (no affiliation)

    boycott-riaa.com

    digital-consumer.org

    do something useful and fight this idiotic RIAA crap!

    1. Re:what ever you do, don't buy a cD! by linuxbaby · · Score: 5, Insightful
      That's like saying 'Never buy software' because you don't like Microsoft.

      At CD Baby we work directly with 38,000 musicians (NO record labels) that are selling their music direct to the world.

      Just like we should all support the independent programming projects when possible, you should support independent music so that these big record labels will have to reinvent themselves or die.

      Hurt the record labels, not the musicians themselves. Do a musician a favor. Bypass the labels. Buy direct . (My little store alone has paid over $3 million directly to musicians in the last couple years.)

      (See our flavor galleries for some real creative browsing.)

  9. Only $13? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I own about 500 CDs. $13.00 works out to about two and a half cents per CD. Is that all they were gouging me for?

  10. $13? by NoInfo · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Umm, only $13? Good thing 'we' 3.5 million people settled this case.

    The real winners here, of course, are the lawyers. A large portion of the remaining $23.3 million goes to them.

    Just a hunch, but I imagine it comes out to a tad more than $13 for each for them.

    IANAL, but right now I wish I was.

    --
    bug.gd: error search engine. Humanity working together to solve all errors.
  11. They've already weaseled a way around it by splanky · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Just a heads-up, I'm biased as I work at a record store...

    The Eagles just released a single and instead of selling it through everybody, they only are selling it through one retailer! So even though the "price fixing" lawsuit finished, by selling through only one retailer, the music consumer ends up paying a higher price because the retailer doesn't have to compete for business. Using this Eagles single and the new Metallica as an example:

    The new Metallica: loads of competition. Best Buy price for first week: 9.99. Wholesale price to record stores (and Best Buy): 11 bucks and change. Net Margin? Negative!

    The Eagles DVD single. no competition. Best Buy price: 6.99. Wholesale price to record stores (and Best Buy): 4-5 bucks. Net Margin? 28-40%

    Also, compare the price of that DVD single with others --- a lot of DVD singles have run only a couple of bucks (heck, the last McCartney DVD single was actually FREE to encourage people to buy the full length) --- so in this case the manufacturer actually raised their price also because there would be no competition on it.

    The frustrating thing about this is that the Eagles are directly responsible - they made this big deal about leaving all the major record companies - but when they did, they made even worse decisions than the major record companies did - independent record stores like mine are locked out from selling the record, while the one major company makes big bucks on it. Considering all the BS Don Henley gives about fighting corporations and such, he's just a washed up hypocrite.

  12. Donate To Chewplastic by KU_Fletch · · Score: 5, Interesting

    In the ultimate move of spite, take the $13 the RIAA is settling with and give it back to Jesse Jordan, the student who's life savings was taken by the RIAA in a "symbolic move." It's his money, we're just giving it back to him.

    --
    It's not stupid. It's advanced.
  13. Also Donate to This Guy the RIAA Screwed by KU_Fletch · · Score: 5, Informative

    As was mentioned on Chewplastic's site, we might want to consider also doanting to Daniel Peng, another student who was hit by the RIAA at the same time. He seems to be having a harder time getting donations since he hasn't had as much media attention as Jesse Jordan did. Plus Jesse seems like he's not that far from getting his money back and I know the RIAA is sending out a WHOLE LOTTA CHECKS.

    On a brief sidenote, this makes me very proud in the redeming qualities of the Internet and the overwhelming spirit of helping the Davids of the world fight thier Goliaths.

    --
    It's not stupid. It's advanced.