Two large court cases in the music industry are all set to go to trial. Though not normally the type of stuff we cover on IntoMobile, at least one of the cases has a potentially large impact on Apple. The first case involves Eminem’s producers, who took Aftermath Records to court back in 2010 to determine whether digital music should be treated as “licenses” and not “sales.” An appeals court ruled that these should be treated as licenses, and the current case is attempting to settle how much that’s worth.
Steve Jobs issued a deposition in the 2010 case, which when viewed by the Judge in the case, led to the Judge ordering nearly everyone out of the courtroom when it was initially given, and again when the deposition was played back to the jury. Clearly, there was some secretive Apple information in the deposition, potentially indicating Apple’s long-term plans for their digital music business.
The second case is where things get interesting. The case involves a class action suit against Universal Music Group (UMG) brought on by Rob Zombie, the estate of Rick James, and others. The plaintiffs in this case are seeking the locked-up documents, including Jobs’ deposition, from the 2010 Aftermath case to use as evidence in the case against UMG.
Apple, seeking to protect whatever information is hidden in the deposition, has filed an objection to a motion to modify a protective order that currently protects the deposition. Apple claims that the plaintiffs in the UMG case have failed to prove why the information in the deposition is needed in the case against UMG, accusing the attorneys of seeking documents that are “broad, but indiscriminate.” The deposition contains “highly confidential and proprietary trade-secrets” that Apple does not want in the hands of its competitors.
Assuming Apple gets its way, we won’t know exactly what Apple is hiding, though we do have some educated guesses. It’s possible the deposition contains information as to how Apple strong-handed music executives into agreeing to do iTunes Match. Perhaps the more likely scenario is that the deposition contains some innovations in their music business that Apple will be unveiling at this year’s WWDC.
Again, this is all speculative, and only Apple, the Judge, and the jurors in the case know for sure what Apple has up its sleeves. The rest of us have to sit and wait.
[via TechCrunch, The Hollywood Reporter]