AFM V. American Idol: Million Dollar Settlement for Musicians

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The AFM took on American Idol for stripping the orchestra tracks from the vocalist's performance in an attempt to avoid paying musicians their due.

The lawsuit filed by the AFM against the producers of American Idol was over reruns of the show's second season. However, the events leading up to filing of the law suit began many months earlier when the producers made a request for discounted AFM rates for reruns of the first season.

There is no doubt as to the success of the American Idol show so it was a surprise when the AFM was first contacted by the show with a proposal to consider a discounted pay rate for the musicians for reruns of the first season. It came down to …