Public Enemy lyricist Chuck D and the estate of the late Rick James are just a few parties who will benefit from a recent settlement involving royalties from digital downloads.
Hollywood Reporter reports that Universal Music will pay an $11.5 million settlement and also provide an increase in artist royalties due to a lawsuit stemming from the companies classification of digital downloads.
The lawsuit states that Universal Music cheated artists out of additional money by classifying digital downloads as “sales” rather than “licenses.”
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Despite agreeing to pay the $11.5 million settlement, a statement made on behalf of Universal Music states that artists were “appropriately paid.”
“Although we are confident we appropriately paid royalties on digital downloads and adhered to the terms of contracts, we are pleased to amicably resolve this matter and avoid continued legal costs,” Universal Music said in a statement, according to Hollywood Reporter.
On the contrary, attorney Len Simon, who represented the plaintiffs in the case, shared his belief that the settlement was “a fair resolution.”
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“This settlement is a fair resolution of this controversy over how to compensate artists for their valuable work in a new medium which we believe was not contemplated by their contracts, many drafted in the 1970s or 1980s,” Simon said. “And it compensates these artists now, rather than after additional years of litigation and uncertainty.”
The $11.5 million settlement will reportedly compensate close to 7,500 artists.
