After the big debate over illegal downloads and pirating in the music industry, now it’s the Canadian record companies who are being singled out by the very artists who brought forth the initial pirating allegations.
Canadian companies, such as Warner Music Canada, Sony BMG Music Canada, EMI Music Canada and Universal Music Canada, have used pieces of several artists’ music illegally for compilations, and have never paid the royalties for use of these songs.
The lawsuit was filed by those overseeing the estate of Chet Baker, the jazz trumpeter who died in 1988. According to the suit, about fifty of Baker’s songs were used over the decades without a single penny paid in return. Many other artists have fallen victim to the same injustice, including Beyoncé and Bruce Springsteen, who have joined forces and filed a class action lawsuit.
In total, 300 000 songs have been pirated by several big wigs in the Canadian music industry. According to Canadian law, which fines $20 000 dollars per infraction, the companies could risk losing 6 billion dollars.