Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA
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Search complete. 25 mentions across 14 episodes found for "Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA".
Oct 30, 2026
Kat MartinGUEST
So I did a sandwich degree, which is where you do a year out in industry.
Kat MartinGUEST
And I was lucky enough to get a placement for a year at what was called BMG, Bertelsmann Group, back in the day, which then merged with Sony, BMG.
Kat MartinGUEST
And for people who don't know, that's one of the leading music businesses in the world alongside Universal.
Kat MartinGUEST
So I did 12 months there.
Dan EppsHOST
Yeah, that's the confusion.
Dan EppsHOST
So they are owned by the German conglomerate Bertelsmann.
Dan EppsHOST
And BMG is also owned by Bertelsmann.
Dan EppsHOST
So they're two entities that are owned by the same company.
Dan EppsHOST
And that's Justices Sotomayor, Gorsuch, Barrett, and Jackson.
Dan EppsHOST
The petition, when this could have been anticipated, because a similar thing happened in May 2025.
Dan EppsHOST
Yeah.
Dan EppsHOST
In another copyright case where Bertelsmann was involved.
Mac ShinHOST
And here's where the last, the third joke of this whole thing happens.
Mac ShinHOST
Under the trench coat of BMG is Resnick, right? And BMG is under the trench coat of Bertelsmann Group.
Mac ShinHOST
So is Penguin Random House.
Mac ShinHOST
And of the nine justices of the US Supreme Court, four of them have all published books by Penguin and through Penguin Random House.
Melissa MurrayHOST
The court apparently lacked a quorum to hear the case because four justices recused themselves—Justices Sotomayor,
Kate ShawHOST
Gorsuch, Barrett, and Jackson— all of whom have book contracts with publishing imprints owned by BMG's parent company, Bertelsmann.
Kate ShawHOST
They did not note this in the cert denial order, but we have noted it by doing a little digging.
Kate ShawHOST
There's a lot that one could say about all of this, but one interesting aspect is that perhaps if this is the reason why these justices decided to recuse in this particular case— It may reflect the insane consolidation that is happening in all facets of the media.
Jeff O'NealHOST
So BMG Rights Management Group wants to retain this.
Jeff O'NealHOST
BMG Rights Management Group is owned by Bertelsmann.
Jeff O'NealHOST
Bertelsmann.com. also owns Penguin Random House.
Jeff O'NealHOST
And four of the justices on the Supreme Court have book deals with Penguin Random House.
Jeff O'NealHOST
They recuse themselves.
Rebecca SchinskyHOST
It is working great right now, Jeff.
Rebecca SchinskyHOST
It's up to them and their own consciences to determine when they have a conflict of interest.
Rebecca SchinskyHOST
And I think what's frustrating about this one is like, yes, BMG is owned by Bertelsmann, which also owns Penguin Random House, but The impact that this case might have on their potential conflicts of interest with Penguin Random House, that's pretty orthogonal.
Tim KappelGUEST
Not a little bit, a lot of it.
Tim KappelGUEST
I mean, it's a massive own goal because, as it turns out, BMG and Penguin Random House share a corporate parent, Bertelsmann.
Tim KappelGUEST
And four of the justices have book deals with Penguin Random House.
Tim KappelGUEST
Barrett, Gorsuch, Jackson, and Sotomayor.
Matt CameronHOST
They bought up the losing side so they could appeal.
Matt CameronHOST
And the problem is that BMG is owned by Bertelsmann, which owns Penguin Random House.
Matt CameronHOST
And now we get to the Supreme Court justices who all like to publish books.
Matt CameronHOST
In fact, Sotomayor, Gorsuch, Barrett, and Jackson have all published books through this imprint.
Thomas SmithHOST
Wow.
Thomas SmithHOST
Why can't they take it?
Matt CameronHOST
They've all published books under this imprint, and because now Bertelsmann owns BMG, which owns Penguin Random House, so they're conflicted out.
Thomas SmithHOST
They're conflicted out.
Clint O'BrienGUEST
Nowadays it's called Random House because after I left two and a half years later, they subsequently acquired Random House, which is the biggest US asset in their empire.
Clint O'BrienGUEST
But when I worked for Bertelsmann, they were already the world's biggest book publisher.
Clint O'BrienGUEST
and quite a large magazine publisher as well.
Clint O'BrienGUEST
And they were big into music.
Clint O'BrienGUEST
You may have heard of BMG Music, which is a Bertelsmann asset.
Clint O'BrienGUEST
So I worked for them for two and a half years on Times Square in New York City.
Clint O'BrienGUEST
We were living out in New Jersey, so I had that long bus ride every day through the Lincoln Tunnel.
Liz DyeHOST
Okay, one more quick SCOTUS item from the orders list, and it has to do with a case called BMG Rights Management v. Vetter.
Liz DyeHOST
BMG is owned by the German media company Bertelsmann, which is the parent company also of Penguin Random House.
Liz DyeHOST
Penguin published books by Justices Sotomayor, Gorsuch, Barrett, and Jackson, and I bet you can all see where this is going.
Andrew TorrezHOST
Indeed we can.
Oliver MalcolmGUEST
Well, that, well, that has happened, Konstantin.
Oliver MalcolmGUEST
That has happened, which is the, what, what's fascinating, of course, and again, a slightly odd paradox here, is that, you know, Penguin Random House is owned by Bertelsmann.
Oliver MalcolmGUEST
Um, [laughs] Bertelsmann, obviously, they of being the original, uh, publishers of Mein Kampf.
Oliver MalcolmGUEST
Um [laughs]
Konstantin KisinHOST
[laughs] Excellent.
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