RIAA?... Pay ME?

My being part of a class action law suit paid off. This morning I received my portion of the settlement made due to the Compact Disk Minimum Advertised Price Antitrust Litigation. I filed a claim to be part of this class action suit about a year or so ago… anyone having purchased a Music CD between Jan1st, 1995 and December 22nd, 2000 was eligible to redeem part of this settlement. Surprisingly, I was part of this demographic since I will on occasion purchase certain artist’s CD’s whom I deem worthy of my entertainment dollar.

This is essentially my being reimbursed for the financial damages I suffered as a music CD purchaser during a time when CD pricing policy was overwhelmingly unfair to the consumer. I received approximately $14.00 as restitution from both record companies and music retailers. These companies and retailers where indicted for violations of the Sherman Act which works to prevent companies from engaging in shady business practices… in this case price fixing. The defendants attempted to exploit their MAP (Minimum Advertised Price) policies to cheat the consumer. The willingness of the defendants to settle with plaintiffs (that’s me) with a significant pay out, $14.00 of which will be deposited in MY bank account, more than confirms their guilt.

Here is a list of the defendants (that restitution… these are the guys supplying it):

LABELS: Capitol Records, Inc d/b/a EMI Music Distribution, Virgin Records America, Inc, and Priority Records LLC; Time Warner, Inc, Warner-Elektra-Atlantic Corp, WEA, Inc, Warner Music Group, Inc, Warner Bros Records, Inc, Atlantic Recording Corporation, Elektra Entertainment Group, Inc, and Rhino Entertainment Company; Universal Music & Video Distribution Corporation, Universal Music Group, Inc, and UMG Recordings, Inc; Bertelsmann Music Group, Inc and BMG Music; and, Sony Music Entertainment Inc.

RETAILERS: MTS, Inc d/b/a Tower Records, Musicland Stores Corp, and Trans World Entertainment Corp.

This victory, though not a MAJOR blow to these giant conglomerates, does feel good at time when music lovers are being actively hunted and sued for copyright infringement by the RIAA. I will more than likely use a portion of my settlement to invest in what I consider a legitimate and fair business model --- iTunes. If the RIAA had jumped on the legitimate internet distribution band wagon instead of conspiring to rob the consumer with their aging CD business model through price fixing, maybe they wouldn’t be up to their ears in legal fees these days.

My thanks go out to the legal teams and active citizens who were instrumental in the success of this litigation… score one for the consumer (there is a statement you don’t hear much anymore).

Want to Know More? Here are some links...

HOMEPAGE FOR THE CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT

iTunes - Join the Legidimate Music Downloading Revolution (yea I know that's campy)

Comments

[Chrissy B.]

For some strange reason. I find you incredibly sexy and exciting. I know nothing could ever happen but I felt the urge to tell you that. I'm 35 withtwo children happily married (one child disabled) I came across your blog when I was searching for answers about Barsky and his untimely demise. I still find that so unbelievable. Anyway I just felt the need to tell
y

ou how I feel.

[john o]

Are you farkin joking? You feel good about this settlement. It is incredibly ironic for the five year window a cheque cames in for fourteen bucks. In that time I am sure you bought a fair number of CDs. $14, Whoop-dee-fucking-do.

You have been hoodwinked and bamboozled again.

[Andrew]

wow... Chrissy B's kinda scary... she'll end up boiling your dog cork... HIDE MO!!! HIDE HIM!!!

[ronan]

I'm a radio journalist in Australia.

I'm keen to do a quick interview with anyone about their RIAA check or who thinks the whole 14 dollar payback saga is a farce.

[Jonathan Brown]

Thanks a lot blogger for such a nice post . I enjoyed a lot . Keep blogging .