English rock band Pink Floyd, who sang the hit ‘Money’ from the album ‘The Dark Side of the Moon’, launched legal action against record label EMI on Tuesday in a row over royalties for their music downloads.
Members of the British band, who were among the most successful artists of EMI since 1967, believe they did not receive the right payment, and EMI should have asked consent to sell individual songs instead as full albums.
Discussions happened on Tuesday in a closed court, but millions of pounds could be put at risk. The band’s surviving members are among the wealthiest musicians in the UK. Roger Waters, who co established the band with Richard Wright, Nick Mason, and Syd Barrett, has an estimated £85 million, based on the Sunday Times Rich List.
The argument focuses on a contract clause, stating that “there are no rights to sell any or all of the records as single records other than with (Pink Floyd’s) permission”. Pink Floyd maintains that the clause applies to all of their songs in every format, as well as those that were sold online. The company, however, says it is applicable only to physical copies.
Robert Howe, Queen’s Council for the band, said negotiations started on the contract in 1998, six years prior to the launch of the download market upon Apple’s introduction of iTunes Music Store in the UK in 2004.
Meanwhile, Elizabeth Jones, lawyer for the record label, said the contract clearly stated that the term ‘record’ is applicable only to actual discs and not on downloads.
