EU court overturns approval of Sony BMG music merger

An EU court in Brussels today overturned the European Commission’s approval of a merger between the music units of media giants Sony and Bertelsmann AG that created the world’s second-largest record label.

The Court of First Instance – the EU’s second-highest court – backed a challenge by the independent record label group Impala, saying regulators did not properly show in 2004 that the new company would not have a monopoly position in two ways.