A copyright infringement lawsuit that’s been filed against major players in the Canadian Record Industry Association (CRIA) seeks up to $6 billion in compensation for the unlicensed use of their music.
Artists, both alive and deceased, may be eligible for damages if the suit, claiming uncompensated use of their songs on compilation albums, is successful. The suit, Ontario Superior Court, was first tabled some two years ago, but artists, their representatives or their estates continue to join the class action.
Named in the suit are major labels including Warner Music Canada, Sony BMG Music Canada, EMI Music Canada and Universal Music Canada. The suit states that the companies, in a scheme to use musical recordings in compilation releases, without royalty payment or required compensation, “was intended to and did harm” to class members by not paying them for their work.
As described by law professor Michael Geist, Chair of the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law, labels in Canada typically create compilation albums without seeking authorization from or providing payment to artists, instead placing such songs on a pending list.
This list dates to the 1980's, and now contains over 300,000 songs distributed on compilation albums for which artists have yet to be compensated.
The statutory damages for copyright infringement, at $20,000 per incident, means the damages could exceed $6 billion.
In a subsequent post, Prof Giest acknowledged making a math error in his calculations of potential damages, noting the total could be some $6 billion, not the $60 billion originally cited.
Industry analysts have also noted errors and possible confusion in his use of some copyright terms, including song, sound recording, artost, writer.
As described by copyright lawyer and IP blogger Barry Sooiman, the pending list has many uses and can be applied to unidentified or unresolved claims for compensation.