CD-Wow Ordered to Pay £41 Million in Damages to UK Record Companies

Authored by Jay Baage on May 29, 2007 - 1:58pm.

London, U. K. – Today the High Court of London ordered Hong Kong-based CD-Wow to pay £37 million plus interest to the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for violating a 2004 agreement with UK record companies to stop selling illegally imported cheap albums in the UK.

The damages were awarded after the court found in March that the company deliberately broke its 2004 agreement to stop buying CDs in places like Hong Kong and re-selling them to consumers in the UK at discounted prices. The Entertainment Retailers' Association (Era), which represents companies like HMV, Fopp and Amazon, welcomed the ruling.

"It is vital that all retailers compete on a level playing field," said Era Director General Kim Bayley. "Illegal imports threaten that level playing field and threaten British jobs." CD-Wow has denied that it deliberately broke the agreement and says it will still sell cheap CDs and may appeal against the ruling.

Related Links:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6700639.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6471863.stm
http://www.cd-wow.com/
http://www.bardltd.org/
http://www.bpi.co.uk/