Sony Pays $8 Million in Digital Music Class Action Lawsuit

March 20, 2012

A five-year battle between Sony BMG and musicians including The Allman Brothers, Cheap Trick, and The Youngbloods has been settled.  According to the deal, Sony will pay its recording artists (and the lawyers) a total $7.95 million to resolve outstanding claims in the case.

A substantial portion of the settlement will go to artists who had at least 28,500 downloads from Apple’s iTunes, with a small amount set aside for artists with lower download levels.

“We believe that the settlement is in the best interest of the class,” says Brian Caplan at Caplan & Ross, who represented the plaintiffs.  The deal comes after the plaintiffs’ lawyer reports two years of “extensive, intense settlement negotiations,” with assistance from a mediator and the named plaintiffs.