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Violation Tracker Individual Record

Company: Sony Music Entertainment Inc.
Current Parent Company: Sony
Parent at the Time of the Penalty Announcement:  subscribe to see this data field
Penalty: $27,225,000
Year: 2003
Date: July 9, 2003
Offense Group: competition-related offenses
Primary Offense: price-fixing or anti-competitive practices
Mega-Scandal: Price Fixing
Violation Description: Bertelsmann Music Group Inc., EMI Music Distribution, Warner-Elektra-Atlantic Corporation, Sony Music Entertainment Inc., Universal Music Group, and retailers Trans World Entertainment Corporation, Tower Records, and Musicland Stores Corp jointly paid $143 million ($67.4 million cash and $75.5 million in CDs) to settle multistate antitrust allegations that they engaged in illegal agreements to establish artificially high minimum prices for prerecorded music in a move to stop discount stores from offering the products at lower prices. According to the final court order each company's share of the total settlement was as follows: Bertelsmann ($27.775 million), EMI ($15 million), Warner-Elektra-Atlantic ($29.4 million), Sony ($27.225 million), Universal ($40.6 million), Trans World ($800,000), Tower Records ($275,000) and Musicland ($2 million). The settlement was originally announced in September 2002; see (click here)
Level of Government: state
Action Type: agency action
Agency: Multistate Attorneys General Case
Court: District of Maine
Civil or Criminal Case: civil
Case ID: 2:01-cv-0084
Case Name: In re Compact Disc Minimum Advertised Price Antitrust Litigation
HQ Country of Current Parent: Japan
Ownership Structure of Current Parent: publicly traded
Major Industry of Current Parent: electrical and electronic equipment
Specific Industry of Current Parent: consumer electronics
Source of Data: (click here)
Link to PACER Case Docket (must be logged in): (click here)
Link to Archived Court Document:  subscribe to see this data field
Source Notes: If an online information source is not working, check the Violation Tracker Data Sources page for an updated link.
Current parent company note: Parent-subsidiary relationship is current as of the most recent revision listed in the Update Log.