.

Rick James' Estate Sues Universal Music Group for Higher Royalty Rate

Other artists can join class action suit in the wake of legal precedent set by Eminem court victory

April 4, 2011 4:10 PM ET
Rick James' Estate Sues Universal Music Group for Higher Royalty Rate
George Rose/Getty

The estate of funk legend Rick James has filed a class action lawsuit against Universal Music Group claiming that it is owed 50 percent of all digital sales of his songs as tracks, albums and ringtones. The suit comes in the aftermath of a recent legal victory on behalf of Eminem, which set a legal precedent determining that digital sales qualify as licenses, not traditional sales, thus entitling copyright holders to half of all revenue rather than around 12 percent.

Contest: Choose the Cover of Rolling Stone

The fact that this is a class action suit is very bad news for UMG, since it means that any other artist in its catalog with a similar claim can join in the suit for an even larger potential payday (though none have done so yet). It's likely that most artists who recorded for the label before the late Nineties has a contract without any stipulation regarding digital sales, which could entitle them to the drastically increased revenue share.

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

prev
Music Main Next

blog comments powered by Disqus
Daily Newsletter

Get the latest RS news in your inbox.

Sign up to receive the Rolling Stone newsletter and special offers from RS and its
marketing partners.

X

We may use your e-mail address to send you the newsletter and offers that may interest you, on behalf of Rolling Stone and its partners. For more information please read our Privacy Policy.

Song Stories

“I'm Yours”

Jason Mraz | 2008

Jason Mraz re-emerged after his disappointing second album with this lead single, a Jack Johnson-esque ditty about giving yourself fully to someone else. The success of the reggae-tinged song (it earned two Grammy nods and a spot on the Billboard singles chart for well over a year) was something the folk-pop singer never predicted when he wrote it in 15 minutes at home. "I played a happy-hippie chord progression that would probably work without 50 different Bob Marley songs," he told Rolling Stone. "I thought, 'It's too novelty. This is a nursery rhyme,'" concluding that "you can never guess what's gonna be a hit."

More Song Stories entries »