Spinner

Pink Floyd Win High Court Battle Against EMI

The surviving members of Pink Floyd have won their court case against record label EMI. As reported in Spinner, the prog supergroup where forced to take EMI to court over a dispute relating to download royalties and whether the label had the right or not to sell Pink Floyd's catalogue online as individual tracks and not complete albums.

In a landmark ruling, the court found in favour of Pink Floyd and ordered EMI to pay £40,000 ($60,000) in costs. The judge has yet to rule how much the beleaguered label is to pay in fines. In a further ruling, EMI has also been banned from selling Pink Floyd's music online.

The case came to court over a dispute about a clause in Pink Floyd's 1999 contract. Signed five years before the advent of legal downloads, EMI argued that clause allowed them to sell the band's music in any way that it saw fit. Pink Floyd's argument rested on the assertion that the clause -- "there are no rights to sell any or all of the records as single records other than with [Pink Floyd's] permission" -- included digital as well as physical formats.

Bands such as AC/DC and Garth Brooks have refused to make their music available via digital download stores, claiming that their albums are intended to be bought and consumed as an entire package and not as individual tracks.

It's a strategy that has clearly paid off for Pink Floyd. Their 1973 classic, 'Dark Side Of The Moon', contained no singles but has gone to sell over 35m copies worldwide.

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jbjg24m

still missing Kikitamurti,

June 05 2011 at 3:44 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
jbjg24m

sure do miss kikitamurti

December 22 2010 at 4:32 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
D-X

Pink Floyd are leaving EMI as early reports are stating. Them and Queen are taking their catalogs with them which will be EMI's final blow. Interesting, Queen are on a different record label in the US and Canada being Hollywood Records which is owned by Universal and Disney (which they share with Miley Cyrus for some reason). Pink Floyd will go to Sony/Columbia as David Gilmour and Roger Waters still have solo deals with Sony outside Europe. In Europe the band was on EMI whereas the band was on EMI then Columbia/Sony from 1974 to 2000 when licensing deal expired and the band switched licensing rights of albums from Wish You Were Here to Delicate Sound of Thunder over to EMI. EMI's job was to release the product whereas the band funded most of their albums, album covers and creative process themselves.

April 21 2010 at 3:43 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Linda

yeah, yeah. anybody know when Jimmy Page is gonna start this "2010" Tour????

April 12 2010 at 8:38 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Ritacos

Take part in this tribute to the Pink Floyd, checking out the video with the song This Is Has Been My Life, really a unique five minutes history of the greatest rock band of all times:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umPJZMs_2XE

March 13 2010 at 12:03 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Sherri WINS

HAIL to the creators of "THE THINKING MAN'S ROCK & ROLL"!!! These comments make me feel so dang GOOD. I have, obviously like many of you commenting here, been a superfan of this wonderful group of genius guys since the late '60s. There has never, will never, could never be another group with Floyd's abilities, talents and unique perspective. I am a huge fan of any music ... from rock to punk ... that is UNIQUE, INDIVIDUAL and identifiable by it's sound. They TOP the list! Of course, it's a fact that Floyd music is done in "story" form ... but the collection of "stories" tells a bigger story of the growth, times and realities of our generation (boomers, of course).

I saw something at the Division Bell tour in 1994 that stays with me even now. A teen (about 15-17) was up in the front near us. At the end of an awe-inspiring performance of Speak To Me/Breath, this young man moved out to the aisle, got on his knees, bending at the waist with his arms out in front of him, and intoned what we were all feeling to be there to witness this greatness of sound and talent ... "We are not worthy, we are not worthy". Indeed, we are not worthy, but it is wonderful to know that we are privileged to have had these great talents alive and creating when they were, and it is heartwarming that the past and future generations will love their genius for years to come!

March 11 2010 at 6:48 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
john

Have any of you out there ever listen to animals, and stop after just one track? Doubtful. Drop a hit,or whatever the new mind expanding thing is today and melt in to ANIMALS. I guarantee it will become your favorite album of all time. Syd would agree if he knew how....

March 11 2010 at 4:20 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to john's comment
kikitamurti

OMG YEA!!!! I LOVE Pigs (three different ones)...it's actually my favorite Floyd song...absolutely everything about that song is just beast...OMG...thanks for bringing that up!

March 12 2010 at 8:55 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
john

Have any of you out there ever listen to animals, and stop after just one track? Doubtful. Drop a hit,or whatever the new mind expanding thing is today and melt in to ANIMALS. I guarantee it will become your favorite album of all time. Syd would agree if he knew how....

March 11 2010 at 4:16 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
troll

Good for the band, both living and deceased members.This goes to show that the people who create the music, from the doo-wop groups to present day artists, get screwed out of monies from royalties, promotional items, etc., and that record companies and promoters are just ruthlessly greedy!!! Put the money where the true talent is, the creators of the music.

March 11 2010 at 4:11 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
rachnandiezwow

Long ago, The Who paved the way for rock operas with Tommy. Since that time many bands have followed suit. Each and every one of Pink Floyd's albums are meant to be appreciated as a rock opera. To even think of listening to one song without the others is preposterous!

March 11 2010 at 3:55 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply