A new class action lawsuit has been filed in federal court accusing major labels of fixing prices for music downloads and CDs. San Diego lawyer William Lerach filed the suit on behalf of 11 plaintiffs who purchased music online or on CDs, and on behalf anyone who has "paid inflated prices" for music. The suit claims that Sony BMG, Universal Music, Time Warner, Bertelsmann and EMI fought together to keep the online music market from emerging, and then “conspired to fix and maintain” music prices once digital services became inevitable.

Lerach's suit also alleges collusive agreements between labels, saying that record companies force online music retailers to sign “most favored nation” agreements that specify the retailers must pay each of the labels the same amount. The suit also says the labels tried to shut down Napster at the same time that they were introducing their own joint ventures to sell online music. MusicNet and Pressplay “were not serious commercial ventures, but rather attempts to occupy the market with frustrating and ineffectual services in order to head off viable online music competitors from forming and gaining popularity after Napster’s demise,” says the suit.