Allman Brothers Sue Yet Another Record Label Over iTunes Royalties
from the all-for-the-artists dept
Reuters is running an article about how the Allman Brothers Band is suing Universal Music for apparently not paying the band royalties owed for iTunes downloads. This seemed like yet another example of a record label squeezing its artists, while insisting that it's always looking out for the artists' best interests. Of course, then I remembered that this isn't the first time this has come up with the Allman Brothers. More than two years ago, we wrote about the Allmans suing Sony over the same issue. At that time, there was a dispute over how the label was counting iTunes downloads, and which clause iTunes downloads fit under in the band's contract. This recent lawsuit seems like a similar dispute with Universal, but it does make you wonder why the band sued Sony back in 2006, but waited until now to sue Universal?
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: allman brothers, copyright, downloads, itunes, music, royalties
Companies: universal music
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
They had one more silver dollar
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
Luckily for me, I spend my days just trying to make people happy at all costs, even when they walk all over me.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
Luckily for me, I spend my days just trying to make people happy at all costs, even when they walk all over me.
So you are saying that you are a mop of a person. Wanna wash my car? It's dirty.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
Wait, what? I have the opposite reaction. These guys are not suing iTunes or their listeners: they are suing the sleazy labels who claim to are trying to con the artist out of what money they can. I am 100% behind any band that wants to sue their label for skimping on royalties, and I believe that those who are anti-RIAA and such should feel the same. I can't help but think you hopefully just misread the article?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: allman bros and others
they aren't pirates, they're organized criminals, and should be prosecuted under rico, not sued by individual artists.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: allman bros and others
An all-out, balls-to-the-wall deathmatch! Let the subpoenas fly, let the judges be bribed, threatened or coerced! It'll be the end-all, be-all of mortal combat! Come watch to gore of live deadly combat!!
[May not be available in your or, or at all]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
if not, take a deep breath and think about what's happening here. this isn't the abuse of the legal system against music fans (as Sony and Universal have been doing). This is a band who have a contract with these record labels, have gotten screwed over and are suing for the money they're due.
To put it another way, you know when the RIAA say they're suing people "for the artists"? Well, they're not even paying the artists themselves! Why would you be boycotting the artist for this?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
you said it
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
You only see 5% of the problems
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: You only see 5% of the problems
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: You only see 5% of the problems
Hollywood taught the RIAA a thing or to about "creative" accounting and some of these cases take years to settle.
Anyway, if you're an unknown band that plays a few bars and a few neighbourhood garages you're probably likely to sign on the dotted line in the distant hope of something better.
ttfn
John
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
What are you people talking about?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: What are you people talking about?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
A boycott is quite legal as well.
In this case - well, never cared for them at all anyway.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]