Sanctions Against Music Company For Frivolous Case

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Arabesque Recordings, LLC v. Capacity, LLC, No. 650277/2006 (Sup. Ct., N.Y. Co. Commercial Division, July 31, 2012) (Bransten, J.S.C.)  (decision here).

Plaintiff music distributor/seller sued defendant warehouse and distribution center for over $2 million for breach of the warehousing agreement.  A bench trial was had.  After approximately 1 hour of testimony, plaintiff moved to dismiss its own case with prejudice on the ground that it lacked any evidence to support its claim.  The court granted the motion, and granted defendant leave to move for sanctions.  Defendant moved for sanctions equaling its legal fees and costs.  The court found that plaintiff's witness's testimony was belied by his own deposition testimony and undisputed documentary evidence, and that continuation of the case was frivolous.  The court sanctioned plaintiff for defendant's legal fees and costs.

Royalties for "Sold" CDs

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U.S. Philips Corp. v. EMI Music, Inc., __AD3d__; 883 NYS2d 584; 2009 NY Slip Op 06135; NYLJ, 08/10/09, p. 31, col. 2 (2nd Dep't 2009), affirming order which granted plaintiff's motion for summary judgment on the issue of liability with respect to claim seeking payment of royalties for compact discs that were sold but later returned by defendant's customers.
"Contrary to the defendants' contention, the Supreme Court properly found that the language of the parties' license agreement was clear and unambiguous as to the payment by the defendants of certain royalties for compact discs that were "sold," even if the compact discs were later returned by the defendants' customers. In this regard, the subject agreement provided that the defendants would be responsible for paying royalties to the plaintiff for compact discs 'made, used, sold or otherwise disposed of" by the defendants. The agreement further provided that a product "shall be considered sold when invoiced, or if not invoiced, when delivered to a party other than the manufacturer.'"

NY State Action Re: Distribution of Music

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In New York Supreme Court, New York County, plaintiff distributor of physical music formats brings contract action for failure to pay proceeds from the sales and distribution of music. Alleged damages: $416,000.

Red Distribution LLC v. Brater Myer Consulting Inc. dba Rawkus Records LLC dba Rawkus Records dba Brater Myer Consulting LLC; Brater Myer Consulting Inc. dba Rawkus Records LLC dba Rawkus Records; Rawkus Records LLC dba Rawkus Records dba Brater Myer Consulting Inc. dba Brater Myer Consulting LLC; Brian Brater; Jarret Myer. No. 08-117338; filed12/30/2008

New Music Format

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SanDisk, record labels announce new music format
Backed by four major music labels, SanDisk on Monday announced a new physical
music format dubbed "SlotMusic" that's essentially an entire album on a MicroSD compact memory card. Wal-Mart and Best Buy are among the retailers that have already signed on to start selling the cards for the upcoming holiday season

Radiohead - Who's Buying

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By now, news of Radiohead offering its latest album on-line at a price chosen by the downloader is old - news. Now the question remains: will anyone buy the album from physical retailers now that it "In Rainbows" is being released in physical formats?

Though Radiohead has not aired any information regarding revenue from the "you-pick" pricing scheme, speculation is abundant. Conversely, sale -- and thus, revenues -- of physical formats will be easy to track. In the end, does it matter?

Radiohead has amassed critical and public following - so let's wait until they go on tour and see what they charge for tickets (and how fast they sell out) before determining how "successful" both "In Rainbow" distribution methods were.