Universal Music Demands Insurer Pay For Infringement Damages 165
An anonymous reader writes with a new twist in the recently resolved Canadian music label infringement lawsuit. From the article: "Earlier this year, the four primary members of the Canadian Recording
Industry Association (now Music Canada) — Warner Music Canada, Sony BMG
Music Canada, EMI Music Canada, and Universal Music Canada — settled
the largest copyright
class action lawsuit
in Canadian history by agreeing to pay over $50 million to compensate
for hundreds of thousands of infringing uses of sound recordings. While
the record labels did not admit liability, the massive settlement spoke
for itself. While the Canadian case has now settled, Universal Music
has filed
its
own lawsuit, this time against its insurer, who it expects to pay
the
costs of the settlement."
"Over" $50 million? (Score:4, Informative)
The first link (2011 Jan. 11) says it was $47.5 million and that they had set aside $50 million to resolve it in case it ever went to court. (Perhaps that was not reserve funds as we were led to believe but instead the size of the insurance policy?)
The second link (2011 May 31) rounds that up to a $50 million settlement. (Meh, what's another $2.50 million?)
How did it get to be "over $50 million"? Contempt citing/accrued interest/late fees for taking so long to pay out, or just bad reporting not clarifying whether it was in Canadian dollars or the reporter had converted it to US dollars?
Re:Hmmm. (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Hmmm. (Score:5, Informative)
Now of course I do understand that this is the only way for many artists to get a living, and by not buying their music we are denying them their little bit of income
Why do people keep throwing this argument into the air?!?!?! NO! No they are not getting their living from that. They are not even REMOTELY getting a living from that.
CONCERTS! LIVE SHOWS! THAT'S where they get money. They do not get money from the labels (ignoring the handful of pennies mentioned above, which is a microscopic fraction of what they make playing live).
You can't make one song and then live off of it forever, just like I can't build someone's house and keep getting paid by them for as long as they live there. Life doesn't work that way. Why do people keep thinking artists have a free pass to infinite money after making a song?
Coincidentally, tonight I will be seeing a band live. I paid for the ticket, and I plan to buy a shirt. Multiply that by hundreds or thousands of people, almost every day for as long as their tour is. THAT is how they can feed and clothe themselves.
Re:I don't see a problem.... (Score:5, Informative)
OMG, ain't that the truth. Last winter, I was driving the kids home from school when a woman lost control of her SUV, slid through an intersection in front of me, and caused me to run into her. Everyone was mostly OK (and the kids were thrilled - "that was awesome, Dad!") but my car needed a little work and I wrenched my back.
I went to a chiropractor (read about my previous experiences [slashdot.org] before you start in) for a few visits and felt great afterward. The body shop did a nice job fixing my car. When everything was done, her insurer, GEICO-the-thieving-bastards, called me to offer a settlement. I wasn't about to sue them or anything, but they basically wanted to buy my agreement to end the matter once and for all. It was a small amount - let's call it $1,000 for roundness - but I was willing to cash the check they were offering to write. It sounded fair.
So the check came, for $200. As it turns out, they hadn't paid any of my medical bills and not all of my car repair bills. That $1,000 settlement included the final payments on the bills those assholes were already legally obligated to pay. I checked with the state board of insurance, but they thought it was a perfectly reasonable thing for GEICO-the-thieving-bastards to do.
I am physically incapable of seeing a commercial for GEICO-the-thieving-bastards without yelling "fuck you, lizard!" at the TV. When the zombie apocalypse happens, that's one pack of jackasses who won't be allowed in my bunker. I'll wait for them to get eaten or infected and double-tap them for pleasure.
Re:Hmmm. (Score:4, Informative)
> . If Apple's value had gone down, he'd have made $1/year
That would be nice, but not how options generally work for CEO's, they are generally written below the stock price at issue, and then they are usually re-priced to still pay off if the stock price goes down. By paying in this way, as long as you only exercise the options over a year old, then most of the risk free gains will then be at capital gains rates...