The High Court in London today (11.03.10) ruled the legendary British psychedelic rock group’s record label are not allowed to sell their individual tracks over the internet and have ordered them to pay £40,000 in court costs.
The judge, Chancellor Sir Andrew Morritt, is still deciding how much the final settlement to the band will be. The judge upheld a clause in the band’s contract that states their records should not be split up when they were sold, in order to "preserve the artistic integrity of the albums".
EMI had argued that online sales were separate to physical records, and weren’t covered in the band’s most recent contract, negotiated in 1993.
Speaking earlier this week, Elizabeth Jones QC, defending EMI, said the word "record" in the band’s contract: "Plainly applies to the physical thing – there is nothing to suggest it applies to online distribution".
The band’s lawyer, Robert Howe QC, disagreed and said that it would be a stange ruling if the band were able to control exactly how their music was sold as a physical product but there was "a free-for-all with no limitation on online distribution". The royalties aspect of the case is unlikely to be publicly disclosed as EMI had earlier successfully applied to the court for the royalties aspect to be kept secret for reasons of "commercial confidentiality".
