Unpaid interns settle with Warners in the US

Warner Music has settled a class action accusing the major of breaching U.S. employment laws through its past internship programmes. The legal action by two former unpaid interns at Warners - Justin Henry and Kyle Grant - led to a class action lawsuit which claimed to represent 3,000 past interns at the record company and its subsidiaries. The class action will need court approval which is planned for early March. A number of other U.S. media and entertainment companies have been hit with similar lawsuits.

Warner's class action green light puts spotlight back on interns

Following news that a class action lawsuit in the States had put the focus on the use of volunteer labour at music festivals comes news that a US judge has ordered that over 3000 former Warner Music interns will receive a letter informing them about a class action lawsuit being pursued against the major over its internship practices.Festival volunteers are something many large scale music events depend on. According to ClassAction.org, that new lawsuit is aimed at Live Nation and its festival promotion partner Insomniac Events, and has been brought by an Elizabeth Valladares, who volunteered at the Californian edition of dance music festival Nocturnal Wonderland in return for a free ticket to the festival. The Warners class action joins a number of others which argue that full-time unpaid internships violate US employment laws Targeted employers are unsurprisingly trying to block said lawsuits from attaining class action status, arguing that everyone's internship is different, and some may have fallen within 'trainee exceptions' allowed under the relevant laws. The new litigation against Warners, led by claimant Kyle Grant, moved forwards after the judge hearing the case said that - while not commenting on the merits of the lawsuit itself - there was a sufficiently strong argument for court-authorised notices to be mailed to anyone else who may be eligible to join the class action. And earlier case by Warner's intern Justin henry was launched in June 2013.  

http://www.musiclawupdates.com/?p=5768 and http://www.completemusicupdate.com/article/former-warner-intern-sues-for-unpaid-wages/

UK Tax Authorities crack down on unpaid staff

In the UK, HM Revenue and Customs has announced that it is cracking down on unpaid internships at music companies. The government body has announced that it has written to various record labels and live firms to explain the rules regarding unpaid labour and that if they are not paying their interns the minimum wage they may be breaking the law.