Nothing seems to have changed in the accounting depts of the big record companies, still fleecing artists and blaming filesharers.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/universal-music-demands-end-massive-707140Over the past few years, major record labels have been attempting to put out a legal firestorm from recording artists who claim to have been cheated on digital music. Some labels like Sony and Warner have agreed to pay millions of dollars to settle class actions.
Not Universal Music Group. The major has been fighting tooth and nail, and on Friday, Universal Music lodged a pair of summary judgment motions in an attempt to defeat its own suing artists.
The litigation inferno stems from a 2010 appellate ruling in F.B.T. Productions v. Aftermath that suggested that record labels should be treating digital download income off of venues like Apple's iTunes as "licenses" rather than "sales." The difference could mean a lot of money because under typical licensing or leasing provisions of artist-label contracts, about 50 percent of collected revenue gets handed over to artists. Under sales provisions, it's usually not more than 15 percent.
As usual the cash loving and cloth eared "recording industry" folks who don't really care what music is turned out as long as they can make a lot of revenues out of it are back again trying to hold onto more revenues that should go to the artists, when will they stop such antics ?
