Pink Floyd Wins Legal Battle Over Digital Music Distribution
By Lindsay Moore
March 12, 2010
Pink Floyd has won a legal case against its record label company, EMI, over the sales of individual tracks in digital music services like iTunes.
The English rock band originally signed a contract with EMI in 1967. The contract contained a clause to preserve the artistic integrity of the albums, which stated that individual songs could not be sold without permission from Pink Floyd.
In the UK’s High Court, the band argued that digital sales should not be exempt from their agreement with EMI. The judge assigned to the case agreed and as a result, Pink Floyd tracks could soon be removed from digital stores. Additionally, EMI must pay $60,000 in costs.
Pink Floyd is one of many high-profile bands that have strongly opposed splitting up what they consider to be single pieces of work. According to former manager Peter Jenner, the release of complete albums has always been important to the band.
