Artists’ Class Denied in Warner Music Streaming Royalties Case

Musician Leonard Williams couldn’t sustain a proposed class of artists suing Warner Music Group Corp. in Los Angeles federal court over allegedly unpaid foreign streaming royalties.

Williams’ case included claims against Warner that weren’t typical of the entire class, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California said Feb. 28.

Williams alleged Warner systematically underpaid artists revenue generated from foreign streams of their music. He sought to represent a class of musicians under three types of contracts with Warner: contracts with royalties for digital streaming, contracts without a streaming royalty provision but with a general licensing provision, and ...