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THR

Sony Goes After ‘American Idol’ Stars

Apr 1, 2015  •  Post A Comment

Sony Music on Tuesday filed a breach-of-contract counterclaim involving “American Idol” stars on the 19 Recordings label, home to Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood and Clay Aiken, The Hollywood Reporter’s THR-Esq. reports.

“In new court documents, Sony asserts that it has overpaid at least $2 million in royalties for these star musicians and is demanding recovery of the money” the story reports.

The action comes in response to a February 2014 lawsuit filed by 19 Recordings accusing Sony of using accounting tricks to shortchange the “Idol” stars.

“19 took issue with how Sony was treating income from streaming services like Spotify, how Sony was doing the math for television advertising deductions, and how Sony was interpreting bonus royalty escalators when consumers bought tracks off an album from Apple’s iTunes,” THR reports.

Parts of the 19 Recordings suit were upheld in a recent ruling, prompting the response from Sony. Among other parts of the original claim that have survived, THR reports: “The judge wouldn’t disqualify the big claim that Sony’s licensing agreements mischaracterize the distribution of music on streaming services as ‘sales’ rather than ‘broadcasts’ or ‘transmissions.'”

Please click on the link near the top of this story for additional details in the THR report.

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