CDWow & BPI reach agreement

ThreadKiller

Press Release

The UK record companies’ trade association the British Phonographic Industry Ltd (BPI) and on line retailer CD WOW! are pleased to announce that they have settled the case against CD WOW! just two weeks before the case was due in court.

The record industry claimed that CD WOW! was obtaining sound recordings from outside Europe and selling them to UK and Irish consumers. As a result of the settlement CD WOW! has agreed that it will not sell CDs that have been first placed on the market outside Europe to UK and Irish customers. It will only sell CDs that have first been placed on the European market to UK and Irish customers. All other details of the settlement are confidential.

BPI chairman Peter Jamieson says, “I am delighted that we have been able to resolve this case on agreed terms without the need for a trial.”

CD WOW! director Philip Robinson says, “This has been a long drawn out affair which we are pleased to have resolved.”

So it looks like they will only be able to sell CDs that come from suppliers in Europe, which are probably more expensive, hence the price rise - check the site. Prices are now starting at €15.95 for pre-release so I'm guessing they're selling off their existing stock before rising prices...

McGintyMcGoo

Just read this on theregister.co.uk ....

< ---starts here --- >
The British and Irish record industries have struck a mighty blow for consumers by forcing online retailer CD Wow to stop selling CDs imported from outside the EEA.

Upshot: customers will have to pay an extra £2 for each CD. Currently, CD Wow charges £8.99 for CDs. CD Wow's price increases could mean a big fall in sales for the company, considering that its prices will now be more expensive than many supermarkets.

And boy, is the music industry happy. "It is not the consumer that will suffer, just CD Wow's profit margins. They made a lot of money out of cheap CDs," one insider told the FT.

CD Wow settled with the British Phonographic Institute (BPI), two weeks before the two sides were due to meet in court over parallel importing. It still faces music industry action in Germany

The retailer imported cheap CDs from Asia and sold them in Western Europe. CDs are cheaper in Asia, because the music industry deploys differential pricing. Briefly, record companies charge more in Europe because they can.

Where there is differential pricing, e-tailers and consumers can arbitrage the difference to their advantage, by importing goods from the cheaper country. Manufacturers use, when they can, restrictive distribution contracts to stop cheap imports. Within the EU, this is illegal - we're supposed to be a Common Market, right?

But trademark law, and maybe copyright law too - but that has to be tested in court - supports the manufacturer in enforcing restrictive distribution for their goods which come from outside the EEA, as the landmark case between Levi Strauss and Tesco confirmed.

So much for Globalisation. It beggars belief that CDs should be subject to differential pricing. They are small commodity items and there are millions of them, which makes them ideal for buying and selling over the Internet. According to the FT, the BPI is mulling over sueing Amazon.com over parallel exports to the UK. A BPI rep later downplayed, but did not exactly deny the report, in an interview with The Register.
< --- ends here --- >


I think that they have blacked access to the www.cdwow.hk site too!!! Yet another example of irish consumers being ripped off!!!!

parasite

comet

I think that they have blacked access to the www.cdwow.hk site too!!!

Nope you just got the wrong link http://www.cd-wow.com.hk

ReefBreak

I think that they have blacked access to the www.cdwow.hk site too!!! Yet another example of irish consumers being ripped off!!!!

I can still access http://www.cdwow.com.hk. No price rises there at the moment.

uberwolf

Originally posted by McGintyMcGoo


I think that they have blacked access to the www.cdwow.hk site too!!! Yet another example of irish consumers being ripped off!!!!

this you mean?

transpires i should have been a little quicker...