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England and Wales High Court (Chancery Division) Decisions |
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You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> England and Wales High Court (Chancery Division) Decisions >> Pink Floyd Music Ltd & Anor v EMI Records Ltd [2010] EWHC 533 (Ch) (11 March 2010) URL: http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Ch/2010/533.html Cite as: [2010] EWHC 533 (Ch) |
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CHANCERY DIVISION
Strand, London, WC2A 2LL |
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B e f o r e :
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PINK FLOYD MUSIC LIMITED PINK FLOYD (1987) LIMITED |
laimants |
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- and - |
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EMI RECORDS LIMITED |
Defendant |
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101 Finsbury Pavement London EC2A 1ER
Tel No: 020 7422 6131 Fax No: 020 7422 6134
Web: www.merrillcorp.com/mls Email: [email protected]
(Official Shorthand Writers to the Court)
ELIZABETH JONES QC (Instructed by Messrs Mayer Brown International LLP) appeared on behalf of the Defendant
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(As approved and redacted by the Judge)
Crown Copyright ©
THE CHANCELLOR:
(Judgment commences in public)
(Judgment continues in private)
"In the event of the sales distribution by [EMI] or its Associates (whether directly or by licence) of EMI Recordings by the Artists hereunder by Online Distribution -
(i) such sales shall be deemed sales of Records for all purposes SAVE THAT the royalty in respect thereof shall (subject to the provisions of clause 9(d)(ii) hereof) be a XX% (XX per cent) share of EMI's receipts. EMI's receipts shall be calculated at the so-called "source" so that they shall incorporate the receipt of EMI's licensees sub-licensees affiliates or any third party obtaining rights in this respect directly or indirectly from EMI."
"'Associate'
any person firm or company which is a connected person (as defined in the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988 Section 839) of the Licensee or which is an associated company of the Licensee within the meaning of Section 416 of that Act."
"'Royalty Calculation Price'
the price upon which royalties (not being mechanical royalties) due to the Company in respect of the sale of Records hereunder are calculated. Such price will be the Licensee's published price (or if no such published price exists the actual price gross of all discounts charged for such Records by the Licensee to the majority of dealers in such country) exclusive of VAT or other sales taxes of such Records gross of all discounts (howsoever arising) in the country of sale of which the Licensee's Records are customarily available to dealers."
Then it continues with reference to a handling charge which I need not read out.
"'Online distribution'
shall mean distribution of recordings via telephone, satellite, cable, point of sale manufacturing or other means of direct transmission to the consumer over networks or through the air now known or hereafter invented."
"In breach of the said provisions of the June 1999 Agreement and the MLA, the Defendant has accounted to the Claimants only in respect of XX% of its own receipts, rather than XX% of the receipts "at source" (ie receipts by the licensees, sublicensees, affiliates or any third party obtaining rights in this respect directly or indirectly from the Defendant)."
"Upon the true construction of the June 1999 Agreement and/or the MLA, internet music providers (such as, for example, iTunes) are "sub-licensees affiliates or any third party obtaining rights in this respect directly or indirectly from [the Defendant]" within the meaning of Clause 9(d)(i) of the June 1999 Agreement or clause 6.1(b)(i) of the MLA, so that the Defendant is obliged to account to the Claimants in respect of income received at source by such providers."
"… it became standard practice for references to "at source" income to be included in royalty provisions linked to receipts. This is a term of art in the record industry which is used to include all monies received at the level of the exclusive licensee for any particular territory (ie, the person in each territory who distributes to retailers), whether by wholly owned subsidiaries, associated companies, third party licensees or sub-publishers in the pool to be considered when calculating royalties due to the artist. Many record companies operate through exclusive third party licensees in certain territories where the economics and scale of the market do not justify maintaining a subsidiary or associate company. Such wording provides certainty for both record companies and artists to the extent of the royalty pool. The purpose of such wording is to capture all monies received at the exclusive licensee level, and not to expand the royalties pool to retailers."
"In this context therefore, in an agreement made in 1999 by experienced parties negotiating royalty agreements, "third party licensees" would have been understood to refer to any companies to whom the record companies exclusively licence their catalogue for distribution within a particular territory."
"34. It is EMI's case that upon the true construction of the MLA the statement in clause 6.1(b)(i) of the MLA upon which the Claimants rely means that the receipts of any person to whom EMI has exclusively licensed its rights for an entire territory with the intent that such party should further distribute those rights to retailers within that territory (ie a third party acting in the exclusive third party licensee role which would normally be performed by an affiliated company) would be included; but that the receipts of the retailers such as iTunes would not. EMI will rely upon the facts and matters set out in paragraphs 22 to 33 above.
35. Further or alternatively it is EMI's case that a proviso that "Licensee's receipts" shall in no case include the receipts of a third party selling Recordings by on-line distribution to members of the public should be implied as a matter of business efficacy and to give effect to the true intentions of the parties. EMI will rely upon the facts and matters set out in paragraphs 22 to 33 above."
"28. Clause 9(d)(i) of the June 1999 Agreement and clause 6.1(b)(i) of the MLA both provide for the Claimants' royalties as a percentage of the Defendant's receipts calculated 'at the so-called "source"'. The term "at source" is commonly used in the music industry, albeit more commonly in music publishing agreements, where a writer's royalty entitlement is normally calculated as a percentage of monies generated from exploitation of the relevant copyrights, rather than (as is usually the case with recording agreements, and certainly those to which a major record company is a party) as a percentage of the price of a record."
I pass then to paragraph 31 which reads as follows:
"The term "at source" is usually defined in some detail in music publishing agreements. Even where it is not specifically defined, it is my view that any experienced music lawyer would understand (and would, in 1999, have understood) a reference to publisher's receipts "calculated at source" to mean the receipts of the publisher, and that of its sub-publishers (whether or not associated with the publisher). I do not believe that any experienced music lawyer would take such a term to mean that it included the receipts of the end licensee or sub-licensee in the chain of title where that party was a user of the licensed copyright, or obtained that license other than in carrying on the business of a music publisher."
He then goes on to add an illustration. I pass then to paragraph 33 in which, in the second half he says this:
"The royalty calculation in relation to On Line Distribution is based on the Defendant's receipts 'at the so-called "source"'. I take the view that any experienced music business lawyer negotiating in 1999 would have understood the phrase 'at the so-called "source"' as dealing with the concern about local licensees' retentions reducing the Claimants' royalty entitlement, but would equally have understood that it did not bring into account the price at which a third party online retailer sells to consumers."
"Based on my extensive experience of the music industry, and in particular of negotiating this type of contract, it is my opinion that any experienced music industry lawyer in 1999 would have understood the phrase "at source", or "at the so-called source" as in the relevant clause to exclude the receipts of third party retailers. This is because of the move away from calculating royalties based on retail price and because of the standard meaning of "at source". Similarly in my opinion, any experienced music industry lawyer would have understood that a record company would not offer the same royalty rate in respect of royalties calculated on PPD and "retail price". No experienced music industry lawyer would have expected an agreement to provide for royalties to be calculated based on actual retail price."
"... what a reasonable person having all the background knowledge which would have been available to the parties would have understood them to be using the language in the contract to mean."
"… the sales distribution by EMI or its Associates (whether directly or by licence) … by On-line Distribution."
Thus the distribution is not confined to licensees, whether exclusive or not, and the distribution envisaged includes, in the definition of online distribution "direct transmission to the consumer".
(Judgment continues in public)
"The [defendant] warrants undertakes and agrees with [the first claimant]
…
not to couple Records delivered hereunder with other master recordings or to sell in any form other than as the current Albums and to exploit the Albums in exactly the same form as to track listing and timing as are delivered hereunder (without limitation there are no rights to sell any or all of the Records as Single records other than with the Company's prior written consent which may be absolutely withheld)."
"Upon the true construction of the MLA, Clause 4.13 of the MLA applies to Online Distribution, so that the Defendant is not entitled to exploit the recordings on the MLA Albums (or other Albums now subject to the terms of the MLA) by Online Distribution or by any other means other than the original Album configurations, without the prior written consent of the Claimants which may be absolutely withheld (including by means of ringtones and streaming)."
"'Album' any sound alone record derived in whole or in part from the Master Tapes.
'Records' any sound alone devices manufactured by the Licensee in a configuration now known and currently exploited together with formats to be devised and derived in whole or in part from the Master Tapes.
'Single' a seven inch 45 rpm Record and/or a twelve inch (45 rpm or 33 1/3 rpm) Record (and/or the Compact Disc and/or the cassette and/or DVD and/or other agreed format equivalent thereof and all other equivalent means of exploitation the rights to which are granted to the Licensee as specified herein) containing not less than two (2) tracks or more than four (4) tracks."