Recipients of an out-of-court music settlement received checks recently to compensate for music companies banding together with retailers to allegedly raise the prices of compact discs, tapes and vinyl records.
Checks for $13.86 were sent from Feb. 20 to Feb. 23 to individuals who bought a pre-recorded music product between Jan. 1, 1995 and Dec. 22, 2000, said Ohio attorney general spokesman Bob Beasley.
Forty-three attorney generals from states and territories who filed the class-action lawsuit were the plaintiffs in the case along with those who received money in those states and territories.
Ohio University junior Ben Wisecup, a graphic design major from Chillicothe, received his check March 1.
I was looking on the Internet
and I was reading a technology Web site and it had a link on the site and I signed up
Wisecup said.
Wisecup said he did not believe the amount of compensation was enough.
The cash is not much for as many CDs as I bought
and the lawyers got too much for the case
but I think it's a step in the right direction
Wisecup said.
The lawyers received $14 million for legal services. Beasley said the cash payout is compensation for consumers who
bought the purportedly over-priced music products.
It was a good thing for those receiving checks that more individuals did not make valid claims
Beasley said. To determine the amount each person received
you start with the total amount of money the defendants agreed to pay
and subtract the administrative costs and attorney fees
and divide the remaining amount by the number of claims.
Matt Box, head clerk at Schoolkids Music & Clothing, 12 S. Court St., and who has been with the store for five years, said in the last three years Internet downloading has killed the retail music business.
I don't think people should be suing the record companies because they are trying to stay in business
