Confirmed Cases with Alternative Dispute Resolution:
Recent Settlement Cases (2023-2025):
- Sony Music Class Action Settlement (2024) - Copyright termination rights dispute Kesha vs. Dr. Luke Settlement (2023) - Contract and defamation dispute settled before trial
- Taylor Swift Masters Resolution (2025) - Swift announced full ownership of her catalog after purchasing masters under "fair terms" (Wikipedia)
- Madrina vs. Jude Okoye (2020) - Nigerian artist sued record label over intellectual property accountability (United Nations Commission on International Trade Law)
Streaming Royalty Disputes
- Spotify Royalty Disputes (2024) - New lawsuits accusing Spotify of cheating songwriters out of royalties, with the company stating it "paid a record amount to publishers and societies in 2023" (CBS News)
- Regulatory Settlement: 6. Copyright Royalty Board Settlement (2022-2024) - Acceptance of new rates that will see songwriters paid more in the US over the next 5 years (LinkedIn)
- AI Copyright Cases (2024): 7. RIAA vs. Suno and Udio (2024) - Record companies brought landmark cases against AI music services for unlicensed use of copyrighted recordings to train AI models (Billboard)
Common Types of Music Industry ADR Cases:
Dispute Categories Frequently Resolved via ADR:
- Royalty Distribution Disputes: Streaming payments, mechanical royalties
- Contract Termination Rights: Artists seeking to regain catalog control
- Copyright Infringement: Including AI-related disputesMaster
- Recordings Ownership: Purchase agreements and rights transfers
- Publishing Rights: Songwriter compensation disputes.
Industry ADR Infrastructure
JAMS provides specialized entertainment dispute resolution services (The Hollywood Reporter), and in 2024, JAMS created new rules governing disputes involving artificial intelligence, reflecting latest ADR developments (Billboard).
