The Supreme Court recently held that digital music sales, such as songs purchased on iTunes, will be considered a “license” in calculating artist royalty payments.

Reports indicate that the lawsuit began when Marshall Mathers’ (“Eminem”) producers sued Eminem’s record label over the way royalty payments were being calculated. The outcome of the suit will probably not affect newer artists whose contracts include digital music sales. However, older artists whose contracts were signed and negotiated prior to the digital music boom will likely benefit from this ruling, due to the fact that artists generally recoup more from a license than from a sale under these contracts.