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# James Taylor Sues Warner Bros For $2 Million Over Digital Royalty Payouts
- URL: https://www.hypebot.com/james-taylor-sues-warner-bros-for-2-million-over-digital-royalty-payouts-1/
- Published: 2012-09-17T09:31:41.000Z
- Updated: 2012-09-17T09:31:41.000Z
- Description: Rock & Roll Hall of Famer James Taylor is now in a legal battle with his former label Warner Bros Records for $2 million, claiming that the singer has not been. Continue reading [https://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2012/09/james-taylor-sues-warner-bros-for-2-million-over-digital-royalty-payouts-1.html]
- Author: admin
- Tags: Major Labels, Songwriting & Music Publishing, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-01-21 10:49

[![Untitled-1](http://hypebot.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83451b36c69e2017d3c19b96d970c-150wi "Untitled-1")](http://hypebot.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83451b36c69e2017d3c19b96d970c-popup?ref=hypebot.com)

Rock  
& Roll Hall of Famer **James Taylor** is  
now in a legal battle with his former label **Warner Bros Records** for $2 million, claiming that the singer has **not been properly compensated for his digital music sales**. Along  
with Taylor against Warner Bros includes several other high-level musicians  
including Peter Frampton, The Temptations, Kenny Rogers and Eminem – all of whom believe that they  
should be earning higher royalty rates for their downloaded material.

  
Taylor’s  
primary complaint involves the digital sales from online retailers. Warner Bros  
essentially treats digital downloads the same as CD sales, but Taylor argues  
that the label is licensing tracks to the retailers and should therefore  
exercise different payout structures. Warner Bros has signed a single licensing  
deal with retailers like Amazon and iTunes, allowing songs to be sold in  
perpetuity.

While these deals typically provide artists with just 10% of the sales  
revenue, licensing deals can allow artists to earn **up to 60% of royalties** – quite the difference. Taylor's  
current rate with Warner Bros is at 50% for digital downloads, but the label  
feels that the he should not be eligible for a higher rate.

When  
Taylor left Warner Bros in 1979, he had signed a termination and settlement agreement  
with the label, which he believes they have violated. In addition to the  
discrepancies with the digital payouts, Taylor and his legal team have alleged  
that Warner Bros has not been properly paying royalties for international sales  
and has also charged the label with unauthorized use of Taylor’s material from  
releases on compilation albums.

Much  
of this legal battle stems from [a legal case](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F.B.T.%5FProductions,%5FLLC%5Fv.%5FAftermath%5FRecords?ref=hypebot.com) in 2010, where F.B.T. Productionswon a ruling where they felt that Eminem's digital sales should  
be treated under the licensing provisions of his contract, which sets the  
precedent for the case between Taylor and Warner Bros. Since that ruling, a  
number of other artists have also filed similar suits including Chuck D, Rob Zombie, and Rick James. Taylor's lawyer, Richard  
Busch, has previously represented many artists in similar royalty disputes, which  
makes him no stranger to the legal battle at hand.

—

***Hisham Dahud*** *is a Senior Analyst for Hypebot.com. Additionally, he is the head of Business Development for [Fame House](http://famehouse.net/?ref=hypebot.com) and an [independent musician](https://soundcloud.com/hishamdahud?ref=hypebot.com). Follow him on Twitter: [@HishamDahud](http://twitter.com/hishamdahud?ref=hypebot.com)*