Bob Donnelly on Eminem decision in Billboard
9/20/2010
Lommen Abdo's Bob Donnelly was recently interviewed by Billboard on the Eminem decision, a decision very favorable to recording artists.
Bob says that "I have consistently advocated for the position that a digital download sale of a recording on iTunes and the like is not the same as the sale of a hard goods record (like a CD) at a conventional record store. Yet record labels have taken the position that not only are they identical but that this gives the labels the right to pay artists at the lower recording royalty rate (generally 12% to 20%) rather than at the higher royalty rate (generally 50%) that musicians are entitled to receive when their recordings are licensed out to third-party companies. The Aftermath/Eminem decision is a Ninth Circuit Appellate Court decision which is very favorable to the artist’s position. The record label’s spinmeisters are trying to claim that it will only affect this one artist because of the unique language in his particular agreement. But I believe the majority of artists who signed recording agreements prior to 2005 will find that the language in their contracts is nearly identical to that contained in the Eminem agreement. This is a red letter day for recording artists!"
Read the Billboard article and the Eminen decision.