WASHINGTON, July 28 (UPI) -- The Federal Trade Commission ruled subsidiaries of Vivendi illegally agreed to restrict competition for products featuring the "The Three Tenors."
In 1997, PolyGram, a predecessor to Vivendi, and Warner Communications, agreed to distribute recordings of Jose Carreras, Placido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti from the 1998 World Cup concert.
PolyGram independently had distributed recordings of the Three Tenors concert at the 1990 World Cup and Warner alone had distributed recordings of the Three Tenors concert at the 1994 World Cup.
The Commission found PolyGram and Warner, concerned that the recording of the 1998 concert would be less appealing than the 1990 and 1994 concerts, agreed to a "moratorium" to restrict price discounting and advertising for the earlier recording before and after the public release of the 1998 concert.
In its opinion issued Monday, the commission ruled PolyGram Holding improperly agreed with Warner Brothers to curb discounting and advertising.
