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EC Court Annuls Sony BMG Merger

July 16, 2006 | Other
According to a posting on the FECC message board a European court has annulled the European Union's approval of a 2004 merger between Sony Music and BMG (Elvis Presley's record label) in a surprise decision that could force the world's second-biggest music company to be unwound.

The unprecedented ruling by the European Court Of First Instance on Thursday also cast doubt on the viability of combining EMI Group and Warner Music, which are engaged in a duet to buy each other.
Source:Elvis Information Network
SuziB wrote on July 16, 2006
The merger has not been annulled as the Court of First Instance has no such power. It can only require that the EU Monoplolies and Merger Commission reopens the assessment of the merger. And even this will now be subject to legal challenge on the basis that companies have an implied right to rely upon the original merger consent, there being absolutely no precedent for the CFI to challenge such a decision.
PTCJones wrote on July 16, 2006
I hope that this happens. Sony is getting bigger and bigger and it's control over us is a huge worry. Already they have been caught putting spyware into their CD's which resulted in a huge recall and loss of face. These big corporations need to be brought down a peg, otherwise we all suffer.
RonBaker wrote on July 17, 2006
I'm not so sure I want that to happen. After all, since Sony/BMG became one there have been reissues of Elvis catalog albums...Elvis, Elvis Presley, Loving You, and 50,000,000 Elvis Fans. They should keep right on going with King Creole, Elvis' Christmas Album, Golden Records, and Elvis Is Back...I think I'd skip the two albums released while he was in the Army (A Date With Elvis, and For LP Fans Only).
PTCJones wrote on July 17, 2006
I am pretty sure these releases were available before the merger except for the FTD versions, but I am not sure even that would have been affected. My worry is that they have already been caught by a Microsoft employee infiltrating our pc's without our consent. They were part of regional code enhancement for DVD's and now we hear of the demise of movies on the PSP (which to be honest were a complete waste of time), Betamax, mini-disc, memory sticks and probably Blu-Ray in the future. It's not that rosy being part of a corp' because the mighty buck is all important. We could see an end to classic releases like Raised On Rock in favour for greatest hits compilations such as HitStory.