James Taylor Sues Warners Over Royalties
The singer is seeking $2m in damages
Rolling Stone reports that Taylor has filed a lawsuit against his former record label, Warner Bros. relating to what he calls outdated royalty rates which, he says, means that he gets rates that are appropriate for "phonograph records".
He says that his digital sales should be viewed as a licensed copy of the master recording, rather than a newly pressed physical copy. The increase in rates would see his royalties rise as much as 400%.
These digital royalties lawsuits are likely to increase exponentially over the next couple of years as artists with large back catalogues spread over multiple decades start to realise that they are not getting a fair cut of digital sales. Sony recently settled with the Allman Brothers Band and Cheap Trick over similar claims.