Top

The Temptations: The Temptations & New Lawsuit

March 16, 2012 by · Comments Off on The Temptations: The Temptations & New Lawsuit 

The Temptations: The Temptations & New Lawsuit, Another major class-action lawsuit has just been filed on the digital royalties front. The Temptations, the pioneering male vocal group from the 1960s, is suing Universal Music in federal court in California, seeking millions of dollars after allegedly being cheated out of revenue from digital downloads and ringtones.

Otis Williams, one of the original members of The Temptations, and Ron Tyson, one of the later members, are the latest to join a growing chorus of musicians who are going to court with allegations that record labels have stiffed musicians by accounting for downloads off of iTunes as “sales” rather than “licenses.”

There are more than a dozen of these types of lawsuits pending in courts, including eight that were filed in the past 12 months. The latest challenge, similar to what has come already, seeks to punish UMG for attempting to get away with paying pennies on the dollar when artists believe they should be making dimes on the dollar. The cases are potentially worth hundreds of millions of dollars to the music industry. UMG is about to go to trial with F.B.T. Productions, producers for Eminem.

Bottom