Tell Me More About this Lawsuit
The music CDs were obtained as part of the settlement of In re: Compact Disk Minimum Advertised Price Antitrust Litigation (D. Me., M.D.L. No. 1361) brought against the five major music distributors and certain retailers.
In these lawsuits, we alleged that the defendants conspired to illegally raise the prices of prerecorded music products by implementing minimum advertised price policies to prevent retailers from advertising their products below certain prices in violation of state and federal laws. The distribution of Music CDs is one part of a comprehensive settlement that will compensate California's consumers for the damages they incurred from these policies. A brief summary of the settlement proceeds is provided below.
Settlement
The defendants have agreed to pay a combination of cash and non-cash consideration. Defendants' combined cash payments total $67,375,000. In addition, Distributor Defendants will provide $75,700,000 worth of music CDs. The settlement also provides for injunctive relief, which prohibits defendants from engaging in conduct similar to that conduct that was alleged to be illegal.
Cash Distribution
Consumers who filed valid claims by the March 3, 2003, have been mailed checks of $13.86 for their share of refunds under the settlement. More information on these individual consumer refunds are available from the national claims administrator.
Music CD Distribution
California will receive some 665,000 CDs valued at approximately $8.9 million. Under the terms of the settlement, the Music CDs are to be made available to music consumers in California through "not-for-profit corporations and/or charitable organizations and/or governmental or public entities with the express condition [that they] be used to further music related purposes or programs reasonably targeted to benefit a substantial number of the persons who purchased Music Products from one or more retailers." A "cy pres" distribution is made when it is impractical or infeasible to distribute the settlement proceeds directly to the victims. In a "cy pres" distribution, such as this one, the proceeds are given to organizations that can provide indirect benefits to the widest group of victims possible.
Who are the Defendants?
Distributor Defendants are:
- Capitol Records, Inc. d/b/a EMI Music Distribution, Virgin Records America, Inc., and Priority Records LLC
- Time Warner, Inc., Warner-Elektra-Atlantic Corp., WEA, Inc., Warner Music Group, Inc., Warner Bros. Records, Inc., Atlantic Recording Corporation, Elektra Entertainment Group, Inc., and Rhino Entertainment Company
- Universal Music & Video Distribution Corporation, Universal Music Group, Inc., and UMG Recordings, Inc.
- Bertelsmann Music Group, Inc. and BMG Music
- Sony Music Entertainment Inc.
The Retailer Defendants are:
- MTS, Inc. d/b/a Tower Records
- Musicland Stores Corp.
- Trans World Entertainment Corp.