Copyright Law

Price fixing case against RIAA reinstated by 2nd Circuit

By Ty Rogers and Ray Beckerman

Hat tip to @cbcalvin on Twitter, and betanews:

In Starr v. SONY BMG Music Entertainment, an antitrust class action against the RIAA, the complaint -- dismissed at the District Court level -- has been reinstated by the Second Circuit.

Among other things, the Appeals court noted the following allegations:

First, defendants agreed to launch MusicNet and pressplay, both of which charged unreasonably high prices and contained similar DRMs. Second, none of the defendants dramatically reduced their prices for Internet Music (as compared to CDs), despite the fact that all defendants experienced dramatic cost reductions in producing Internet Music. Third, when defendants began to sell Internet Music through entities they did not own or control, they maintained the same unreasonably high prices and DRMs as MusicNet itself. Fourth, defendants used MFNs in their licenses that had the effect of guaranteeing that the licensor who signed the MFN received terms no less favorable than terms offered to other licensors. For example, both EMI and UMG used MFN clauses in their licensing agreements with MusicNet. Fifth, defendants used the MFNs to enforce a wholesale price floor of about 70 cents per song. Sixth, all defendants refuse to do business with eMusic, the #2 Internet Music retailer. Seventh, in or about May 2005, all defendants raised wholesale prices from about $0.65 per song to $0.70 per song. This price increase was enforced by MFNs.

Commentary & discussion:

betanews
Associated Press via New York Times

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Full post as published by Recording Industry vs The People on January 13, 2010 (boomark / email).