A London Court has ruled in favor of Pink Floyd in the most recent dispute between the band and its label, EMI, concerning song bundling and unbundling on albums.
Pink Floyd brought suit against EMI to dispute online royalty payments and EMI’s practice of selling individual Pink Floyd tracks online. Much of the dispute concerns whether “records” and “albums” under the contract are limited to physical formats such as CDs, LPs, and DVDs. According to the London Judge, the answer is “no.”
According to the band, albums like Dark Side of the Moon are concept albums. In many cases tracks on any particular Pink Floyd album flow together, making distinctions from track to track difficult. The band claims that they intended consumers to listen to the albums as arranged by the band as opposed to the current practice of “unbundling” albums and selling each track singularly.
The Court concluded that a clause in the recording contract alluding to the band’s moral rights preserved the band’s interest in maintaining the artistic integrity of their albums. This includes the presentation of the music contained on each album, regardless of the album’s format. The judge granted Pink Floyd an interim judgment of £40,000 for breach of contract.
A dispute like this demonstrates a few things—first clarity and forethought in recording contracts needs to take greater precedence than ever before due to the evolution of recording and distribution technology. Also, artists should seek creative control and approval rights over how albums, regardless of format, are presented and consumed in commerce. This is particularly true in U.S. contracts, where moral rights are given far less consideration.
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