Slashdot Mirror
Rockers Sue Sony Over Download Royalties
Ohreally_factor writes "According to an AP article, groups Cheap Trick and The Allman Brothers allege that Sony is paying them less than what they deserve for music downloaded from popular download sites such as iTunes. Because Sony counts such sales as the equivalent of a physical phonorecording sale, they deduct costs for packaging (20%) and breakage (15%) from the artists' royalties, just as they would if they were selling CDs through more traditional means. Seeing as how there is no physical packaging, nor physical inventory that might suffer breakage, one wonders how Sony will defend against these charges."
Royalties? What are we talking about? 20 bucks?
OK, all kidding aside, my guess is that they deduct these costs because that's how their accounting system is set up and aside from the loss of free money, it's significant $$$ and a major PITA to change. So they go to court, lose and for a while the artists get more money. Don't think for a minute that Sony won't think of some other way to get this money back.
"I'd rather be a lightning rod than a seismometer." -Ken Kesey
Way to go Sony! First the rootkit, now this! When are you going to self-destruct? I want front row tickets!
Ohhh, the poor artist, when will they again be opressed. Personaly, I hope both the artist and sony sue each other to death.
Where's Madonna's response?? Where's her outrage to the would-be music pirates called the "Record Labels" that are taking more of her money than they should?
Turns out the pirates are also on that side of the fence as we suspected. Charging for storage media and breakables. Sad thing is that it is probably in the contract they signed and there is nothing they can do about it. Well maybe now some of the artists can see what their listeners have been screaming about for months.
Sony's lawyers can easily change "packaging" to "transcoding" and "breakage" to "DRM Application," and the unholy vortex of sucktitude created by Cheap Trick and the Allman Brothers lives on. No they don't get more money.