Pearson Warshaw is currently serving as co-lead counsel on behalf of a class of royalty recipients who have contracts with Warner Music Group Corp. (“WMG”). The complaint alleges that WMG failed to properly credit royalty payments to Class Members from the exploitation of digital downloads and mastertones of recordings under certain contracts. The Plaintiffs claimed that exploitation of digital downloads and mastertones should be counted as a “license” (and most WMG contracts provide a higher royalty rate for licenses) rather than as a “sale” of a record.

The parties entered into a class-wide settlement agreement which was finally approved by the Court on January 12, 2015. The settlement provides relief for past royalties and an increased royalty rate for future royalty payments.

The parties are in the process of calculating the amounts due Authorized Claimants, which process will take time. Past relief payments, retroactive royalty rate increase payments, and use of increased royalty rates are currently scheduled to be included with the December 31, 2015 royalty statements

The official notice of settlement provides complete details about the terms of settlement, deadlines and procedures for making a claim. Additional details about the settlement as well as court documents can be found on the settlement website, www.wmgdownloadsettlement.com.

The case is captioned, In Re: Warner Music Group Corp. Digital Downloads Litigation, Case No. 12-CV-0559-RS.