As was first reported in the New York Post yesterday, the musicians that comprise the band on American Idol are suing the show’s producers. The suit was filed on Friday in Los Angeles by the American Federation of Musicians, and asks for at least $500,000 in damages, alleging that the show failed to adhere to aspects of the musicians’ contracts by not paying them for the resale of video and audio of their Idol performances.
If the suit is successful, the final payout is likely to be even higher than that half-million, the plaintiffs contend. “It surely will be considerably more,” Jeff Freund, the general counsel for the AFM, told EW, “once discovery is conducted and once we’re able to get a complete accounting of all of the ways in which the product has been exploited and not paid for.” The payment under contention is for producers’ use of songs in formats that extend beyond the show and its soundtrack, such as iTunes sales of audio and video from Idol‘s weekly telecasts.
“American Idol is a different kind of show in a sense that it is so incredibly music-driven and there are exploitable pieces of work from the show that have a market value,” says Freund. “So there are individual songs that obviously capture people’s attention, ringtones that can be built off of the songs, the equivalent of music videos of the performances…this is a pretty music-intense show and pretty extreme conduct on the part of the producers.”
Spokespeople for Idol and its production company Fremantle Media had no comment on the suit. –Additional reporting by Michael Slezak
Ha! That’ll teach ‘em not to acknowledge Ricky Minor.
EW this news is a week OLD — you guys need better reporters or tweet to TMZ and the AI blogs to get the latest news.
” exploitable pieces of work from the show that have a market value ” – more money for Simon – less for those working in the background – wow – was that even a surprise…
just listen to the music behind the vocals and it is easy to conclude they have a legitimate case.
Please let this be the last nail in AI’s coffin. I am so sick of this show and how it takes over Fox’s schedule. Do we really need an hour long results show I’ve even heard rumors that it might be extended to two hours next season)? Most of the singers on the show aren’t very good and honestly how many of them have been successful post show (except for Kelly Clarkson)? It is time for this show to go away.
carrie underwood. chris daughtry. kellie pickler. jennifer hudson. jordin sparks. they have all been very successful.
Underwood has been more of a country star instead of pop which is what AI is supposed to be, so I’ll give her partial credit.
Daughtry didn’t win his season but has arguably been more successful than any other winner since Clarkson (which also speaks to the lack of validity for the show as a whole).
I don’t think Pickler won her season plus I can’t recall ever hearing her stuff on the radio where I live.
I’ll give you Hudson but again I’m not sure if she actually won her season.
Sparks is a little more iffy since while I’ve heard a couple of her songs I wouldn’t call her a huge success.
None of what you posted really matters considering that American Idol is mainly a reality show, not a springboard for the next pop sensation.
The rumors you speak of are false. But the fall lineups posted earlier by Ausiello show it actually cut to 30 minutes.
good. There has never been justification for an hour long results show where its 55 minutes of filler and ads for 5 minutes of actual usefulness.
Adam Lambert! The next superstar!
That’s exactly what I was thinking when I read The Dude’s comments. Adam is well on his way to being a huge star. His current GlamNation tour is selling out at every venue.
Lambert is selling out medium sized theater venues and hasn’t come close to a #1 single. I’d hardly call him a superstar.
And again I don’t think Adam Lambert won his season. Didn’t he come in second place?
The entire point that we are being sold with AI is that the winner of the show is supposed to be the best undiscovered talent and they aren’t delivering. When contestants who don’t win do better than the winners the show proves to be a waste of time.
Dude, the winner is not the best talent. “America” votes for the winner making it a musical popularity contest. “America”, as it turns out, is mainly tween girls.
If your definition of successful is only making it in the pop world, than yeah, I guess AI doesn’t have too great a track record. However, dozens of former contestants have been able to create viable careers in the entertainment biz by using the show as a springboard be it in country music,Broadway or even hosting entertainment-type shows.It hardly matters who wins, since the results are always so skewed by teeny-bopper power voters. At one point last year 6 of the top 10 videos on VH1′s countdown were by Idol alums. That’s pretty successful, IMO.
Cue the sharks! Here comes the American Idol speed boat, with water skier Randy Jackson in tow… they’re approaching the jump aaaand…. THEY’RE OVER IT!! It’s official: American Idol has jumped the shark!
Lol. Love the Randy Jackson in tow line.
I mean these musicians are essentially a glorified cover band, but I’m really surprised that they’re asking for so little. Even on a bad year Idol pulls in gigantic ratings. You figure this sum is being split between a minimum of 5-6 musicians, after lawyer/manager fees you’re looking at maybe $75K per musician. That’s less than Seacrest’s hair product budget.
The house band doesn’t play an original beat of music, and could easily be replaced with a karaoke machine. They should be thankful to get the exposure…
Good for them! They deserve it.
I hope they get everything they want and MORE!!
especially after the way they screwed Paula out of a new contract!
Well, there goes Slezak’s idea of getting clearances for more songs, LOL.