Entertainment: Companies to settle CD price-fixing suit
Copyright ) 2002 AP Online
By LARRY NEUMEISTER, Associated Press
NEW YORK (September 30, 2002 6:49 p.m. EDT) - The five top U.S.
distributors of compact discs and three large music retailers have
agreed to pay $143 million in cash and CDs to settle charges they
cheated consumers by fixing prices, authorities announced Monday.
The settlement brings to a close accusations made by attorneys general
of 41 states and commonwealths who accused record companies of
conspiring with music distributors to boost the prices of CDs between
1995 and 2000.
The companies broke state and federal antitrust laws, costing consumers
millions of dollars, the attorneys general had charged in a lawsuit
filed in August 2000 in U.S. District Court in Manhattan and later moved
to Portland, Maine. A judge there must approve the deal.
The settlement calls for $67.3 million cash to be distributed to the
settling states to compensate consumers who overpaid for CDs during the
period and to pay settlement administration costs and attorneys' fees.
Consumers who bought CDs between 1995 and 2000 can file claims for part
of the fund, prosecutors said. Public announcements will be made later
to inform consumers how to participate in the payout.
The settlement also requires 5.5 million CDs valued at $75.7 million to
be distributed to public entities and nonprofit organizations in each
state to promote music programs.
The settlement will be distributed according to state population,
although attorneys in the case are still working to determine a formula.
New York, for example, will receive about 6 percent of the settlement.
Consumers in all 50 states will benefit under terms of the settlement,
New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer said in a statement.
"This is a landmark settlement to address years of illegal
price-fixing," Spitzer said. "Our agreement will provide consumers with
substantial refunds and result in the distribution of a wide variety of
recordings for use in our schools and communities."
More at http://www.nandotimes.com/entertainment/story/557116p-4389874c.html
DS
