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“The refunds provide a measure of much-deserved justice to consumers in California and across the nation who were gouged because of the defendants' deals to stifle competition and artificially inflate music CD prices, and it took my mind off of gay marriages for a minute.”
—-Bill Lockyer

MAP SETTLEMENT CHECKS GOING OUT

Record Companies and Retailers Refunding $47 Million
Who says the record industry doesn’t give something back to customers now and then?

Checks for $13.86 were mailed out on Friday to 3.5 million consumers who bought music between 1995 and 2000.The refunds are part of the settlement in the minimum advertised price lawsuit brought by attorneys general for 43 states against Sony, WEA, EMI, UMG, and BMG and retailers Tower, Musicland and TransWorld.

The refund checks are part of the $143 million settlement of the suit, which was consolidated and brought to court in Maine. The antitrust lawsuit was brought in 2000, accusing the companies of illegally conspiring to prices by imposing minimum pricing policies. All the companies denied wrongdoing. A federal judge there approved the settlement last June, but appeals held it up until now.

Refunds will total around $47 million was being paid in refunds. The companies are also giving $77 million in CDs, approximately 5.6 million discs, to schools and libraries nationwide. Lawyer fees and other costs took about $20 million of the settlement, according to press reports.

In addition, the settlement bars the companies from agreements controlling retailers’ CD prices and from refusing to deal with retailers who sell discs below suggested retail prices.

This could be the very last time minimum advertised price gets a mention in this space, and that brings lots of tears. Luckily, for all the MAP junkies, there’s the website www.musiccdsettlement.com for all MAP-lawsuit related news.

California Attorney General Bill Lockyer told the Associated Press: “The refunds provide a measure of much-deserved justice to consumers in California and across the nation who were gouged because of the defendants' deals to stifle competition and artificially inflate music CD prices, and it took my mind off of gay marriages for a minute.”

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