LONDON (AP) — It's a victory for Pink Floyd, in the effort by the rock band to keep its songs from being sold individually instead of as part of one of the group's concept records.
A British court says the record label EMI can't sell Pink Floyd tracks individually without the band's permission.
Pink Floyd has always insisted that its contract prohibited those sales. But EMI said the clause -- which was negotiated more than a decade ago -- didn't apply to Internet sales. The judge sided with the band.
Experts say the ruling offers "another brick in the wall" supporting the ability of artists to control their own work.
The band's lawyer says Pink Floyd is known for producing "seamless" pieces of music on albums like "The Wall" and "The Dark Side of the Moon," and that it wanted to retain artistic control.
The ruling isn't the end of the case -- just a clarification by the judge about what the band's contract with EMI means.
And the decision isn't an order to stop selling single Pink Floyd tracks. They're still available individually today from ITunes.
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<<APPHOTO LON109 (07/01/05)>>
: FILE -This is Saturday July 2, 2005 file photo of Pink Floyd's Dave Gilmore, left, Roger Waters, second left, Nick Mason, second right, and Rick Wright, at the end of their set at the Live 8 concert in Hyde Park, London. In a victory for the concept album, Britain's High Court on Thursday March 11, 2010 ordered record company EMI Group Ltd. to stop selling downloads of Pink Floyd tracks individually rather than as part of the band's original records. The rock group sued the music label, saying its contract prohibited selling the tracks "unbundled" from their original album setting.
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