In late 2008, a proposed class action was initiated in Ontario, Canada, by the estate of the late Chet Baker as the representative of a proposed class consisting of songwriters and music publishers whose musical works have been embodied in sound recordings released or distributed in physical formats in Canada by the four major record companies, Sony BMG Music (Canada) Inc., now Sony Music Entertainment Canada Inc., EMI Group Canada Inc., Universal Music Canada Inc., Warner Music Canada Co., in circumstances where the record companies had allegedly failed to secure the necessary mechanical licenses and for which royalties had been accrued on the record companies’ so-called “pending lists”.
The class is defined as follows:
“Any rights holder who holds, or who has held at any time, rights in a musical work embodied in an audio product or a video product first released or distributed in Canada by any of the Record Label Defendants at any time up to and including December 31, 2012, for which rights the applicable Record Label Defendant was required to obtain a reproduction licence (including, in relation to video products, any necessary synchronization licence) but for which either no such licence has been obtained for the reproduction of the musical work or for which the required royalties have not been paid for the reproduction of the musical work despite the issuance of such a licence.”
Settlement agreements were reached between the original plaintiffs and the defendant record companies in July, August and December 2010, which involve the payment of defined amounts of unpaid pending list royalties into a settlement trust to be administered by CMRRA/SODRAC Inc. (“CSI”), with the proceeds of the settlement to be paid to or for the benefit of rightsholders of musical works.
For more information regarding this action and the distribution of the settlement, please refer to the appropriate sections of the CSI Music Services website.
For the complete set of official documents and notices related to this action, please visit Class Counsel’s Settlement Website .
