Band Sues Record Label for Digital Music Distribution Ripoff

Lawsuit notes that Universal "incurs practically no expenses or risks to create and distribute digital downloads yet UMG reaps millions of dollars every year from such exploitation."

The Allman Brothers Band have decided to sue Universal Music for more than $10 million USD over royalties from CD sales and digital downloads services, reports Reuters.

The lawsuit, filed in Manhattan federal court, said UMG "refuses to pay Plaintiffs at the correct royalty rate for its digital exploitation of the Capricorn Masters," including from CDs, digital downloads and ringtones.

The lawsuit centers around a 1985 agreement between the band and Polygram, which Universal later bought, that said the band would be paid half of the profits on any other commercial usage not specified in the agreement like the sale of music downloads on Apple's iTunes for example.

"UMG incurs practically no expenses or risks in connection with the Masters, particularly with respect to licensing other companies such as Apple to create and distribute digital downloads ... yet UMG reaps millions of dollars every year from such exploitation," the lawsuit said.

The band is rightly angry over the deal since there was no way to foresee in 1985 that one day a record label wouldn't need to actually manufacture or distribute records, that it would all be done digitally. In their eyes, as well as mine I might add, giving 50% of you profits to a company that doesn't do a thing is entirely unfair and disproves once again the myth that record labels care about music artists.