p2p news / p2pnet: With word of the huge Canadian pro-musician-led revolution echoing everywhere but (predictably) in the entertainment cartel controlled media, two major US bands are suing Big Four Organized Music gang member Sony Music "in the amount of millions of dollars " for failing to pay what it owes.In a class action, "Sony Music is not paying its recording artists 50% of the net licensing revenue received by Sony Music in connection with the master recordings licensed to Apple and other third party providers of digital downloads, as Sony Music is contractually obligated to do," say lawyers representing the Allman Brothers (top) and Cheap Trick."Instead of paying its recording artists the approximate 30 cents of the 70 cents it receives for digital downloads (after deducting payments to music publishers), the suit alleges that Sony Music wrongfully treats each download as a sale of a physical phonorecord (i.e. a CD or cassette tape), only paying on 85% of such "sales" (due to a fiction that there is breakage of product), deducting a 20% fee for container/packaging charges associated with the digital downloads (although there are none), and reducing its payments by a further 50% "audiofile" deduction, yielding a payment to the Sony Music recording artist of approximately 4 1/2 cents per digital download."According to the complaint filed, The Allman Brothers Band and Cheap Trick and other members of this class action have been damaged in the amount of millions of dollars through the loss of royalty payments which Sony Music has retained for its own benefit in breach of the applicable contractual record royalty provisions."In Canada, the new the Canadian Music Creators Coalition states, "Fans who share music are not thieves or pirates. Sharing music has been happening for decades."CMCC members include, Barenaked Ladies, Avril Lavigne, Sarah McLachlan, Chantal Kreviazuk, Sum 41, Stars, Raine Maida (Our Lady Peace), Dave Bidini (Rheostatics), Billy Talent, John K. Samson (Weakerthans), Broken Social Scene, Sloan, Andrew Cash and Bob Wiseman.And in the US, the other members of the Organized Music cartel, Warner Music, Vivendi Universal, EMI and Sony and its partner BMG, are being investigated by federal and state authorities for alleged bribery and price fixing
