The Rock Band Pink Floyd creates concept albums with common themes joining the singles on the album; think The Wall and Dark Side of the Moon. Pink Floyd wanted to make sure that its albums could not be arbitrarily hacked apart with singles distributed out of context. It entered into a contract with its record label which includes a clause that said: ""there are no rights to sell any or all of the records as single records other than with [Pink Floyd’s] permission". Despite this clear language the record company decided to release singles as downloads without the permission of the Band. The label argued that the 1999 contract was formed before downloads existed and thus it could market the music via downloads anyway it wanted despite objections from the Band. Pink Floyd fought back and won.
A court ruled for Pink Floyd and ordered the label, EMI, to pay £40,000 ($60,000) in costs and is now considering an appropriate fine for the conduct. The judge also ruled that EMI is banned from selling Pink Floyd’s music online. I guess EMI was looking for "Money", Pink Floyd said "Wot’s….Uh the Deal" and "Stop", the Court held "The Trial" and ruled it is "Time" for the label to "Take It Back" and "Run Like Hell" for punishment to "The Dark Side of the Moon". (Sorry I could not resist, feel free to amend or add your own).
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