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Beatport, AM Only and Beatport's Owner Getting Sued
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| omega1n |
This makes for an interesting read for those bored at work and want a little insight of Denver's nightclub scene.
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http://blogs.westword.com/backbeat/...s_suit_agai.php
Hot on the heels of a profile in 5280 magazine, nightclub impresario Regas Christou has made some real news: He's filed suit against Beatport, Brad Roulier, Beta and AM Only. While we haven't had a chance to pore over the entire brief, which was filed yesterday in U.S. District Court, it appears that Christou, through his lawyer, Jeffrey Vail, is demanding a jury trial seeking "damages and injunctive relief for unlawful and anti-competitive practices."
In the filing, Christou levels a host of allegations against Beta, his primary competitor, owned by Brad Roulier, his former talent buyer, as well as Beatport, a company that Roulier co-founded (and Christou allegedly helped stake early on) and AM Only, the New York-based electronic-centric booking agent. Among other infractions, Christou alleges attempted monopolization, conspiracy to monopolize and theft of trade secrets.
In the case, Christou is essentially claiming that Roulier and company attempted to freeze him out of the dance-music business by leveraging Beatport's relationships with artists to negotiate exclusive engagements and thus exclude Christou from booking those same artists.
While there have been a variety of clubs over the years catering to dance music, until Beta opened in March 2008 (in the former home of Rise), Christou's clubs -- Vinyl, the Church, Two:AM, Funky Buddha and Shelter -- were ground zero for most mainstream dance music in Denver.
During that period, Roulier booked many of the acts for Christou. When he branched out on his own, the suit charges, Roulier took advantage of the knowledge, expertise and relationships he'd developed while in Christou's employ.
There's obviously much more to this story, and we'll be offering periodic updates. In the meantime, you can read yesterday's filing below. |
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| DjWoody |
| I'm reading the PDF and it's interesting. $15,000 for Deadmau5. That's not bad, I thought he would be a lot more. That's #63 on page 17. The DJ Rap incident is pretty interesting too. |
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| Sadface |
| It does say "at the time" so it might have been after his show there in 2008. |
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| bas |
| It sounds like he's basing his suit on Beta having exclusive contracts with certain DJs. That isn't unheard of in the dance music industry. |
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| bas |
| lol that DJ Rap thing is funny, I doubt anyone would notice if her album didn't make it to Beatport :stongue: |
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| Quazar |
Yeah, it seems like it's just how the business works.
In other news, $15k for two hours isn't bad, especially if it was back in 2008. I assume these days deadmau5 is making serious cash thanks to mau5trap records and all that. |
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| 72hrpartyanimal |
| not a lawyer... but if this goes to court and the dude wins, does that mean artist exclusivity would be illegal?? i doubt he wins but just wondering "what if" |
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| drEamer |
| this happens all the time, but maybe in the smaller market like SF, its an unfair labor practice....what do i know tho |
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| element-y |
| Depends on the state for this one. But i see nothing wrong. Its business tactics. If you can outpay brad then do it. But artists have an incentive to go with Brad. Unfair - sure - but it happens everywhere. |
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| bas |
| A member of another board brought this up, "should have had him sign a non-compete". Sounds like massive failure for Mr. Christou. |
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| mar46017 |
| quote: | Originally posted by 72hrpartyanimal
not a lawyer... but if this goes to court and the dude wins, does that mean artist exclusivity would be illegal?? i doubt he wins but just wondering "what if" |
Usually cases like these settle out. Its hard to keep up with hourly attorney rates to defend yourself. Most of the time civil cases are all about egos.
Note: For a civil case to go to Federal Court (like this one). You need two parties from two different states + over $75,000 as the amount in controversy. (unless there is a Federal Question like Civil Rights) |
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| Randy S |
| quote: | Originally posted by element-y
Depends on the state for this one. But i see nothing wrong. Its business tactics. If you can outpay brad then do it. But artists have an incentive to go with Brad. Unfair - sure - but it happens everywhere. |
Was literally about to say that without a non-compete his argument is pretty weak. |
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