Maybe they should pay the artists the same amount that the record companies pay them, i.e., zilch.

not to Yahoo, AOL & RealNetworks it isn't. To put it in perspective, Disney made over $1Billion on Hannah Montana crap last year.

I can imagine quite a bit.

Incorrect Subby, they owe the RIAA 100 million. How much of that actually makes it to the artists? Well, lets see now. Didn't some artists recently SUE the RIAA because the RIAA wasn't actually disbursing any of the money they've collected with their various barratrous lawsuits?

Alacritous: Incorrect Subby, they owe the RIAA 100 million.

THE RIAA IS NOT A GODDAMN FARKING BUSINESS AND DOES NOT COLLECT GODDAMN FARKING MONEY FOR GODDAMN FARKING RECORD SALES. IT IS A GODDAMN FARKING LOBBYIST GROUP AND PEOPLE WHO WANT TO COMPLAIN ABOUT SHOULD AT LEAST LEARN TO GET THEIR GODDAMN FARKING FACTS STRAIGHT.

Pocket Ninja: AND DOES NOT COLLECT GODDAMN FARKING MONEY

Fruit of the looms on a little tight today?

What is that, a few dozen illegally downloaded mp3s?

Pocket Ninja:

GAWDZ HE'Z FREAKIN' CALM!!!!

[time to cut down on the Red Bull]


I keed.

If the RIAA sues to collect for their associated labels, then they have monies to give to the artists they claim to represent. But, the RIAA isn't some kind of holding company that collects all sales revenue. In fact, they don't represent artists at all, at least not individually, but rather, their labels.

The RIAA is in some trouble, because they've sued, claiming to represent artists and to try to enforce royalty payments, but haven't exactly been forthcoming with said money, actually to the artists they've claimed to represent, as opposed to acting as a punitive measure to try to force compliance to use legal download services. Their legal department is essentially acting as thugs to get folks herded towards networks that are on the grid as far as payment is concerned.

More importantly, the RIAA isn't made up of artists, but labels and distributors. Their "work for hire" controversy, which would have stripped artists of rights to their own music in 1999--provisions and changes in copyright legislation were slipped in by a Congressional staff attorney, who later was hired by the RIAA as their Senior Vice President of Government Relations and Legislative Counsel. The RIAA doesn't represent artist interests in the least, despite any rhetoric they may employ, but firmly are behind protecting the interests of labels and distributors and their efforts rarely benefit artists themselves, save tangentially in the interests of increasing revenue--and the RIAA is more interested in boosting revenue for the labels and distributors at cost to the artists, who a great many in the industry see as almost superfluous and replaceable...

Actually to clarify: monies that should have gone to artists, should have gone to their labels. Where sometimes it takes a while to make it to them. Artists are suing to get the monies directly, which I don't foresee working out so well. Monies that have been held onto for their warchest to fuel other lawsuits, may have to be dispersed, but will that reach the artists? Maybe, maybe not, but the RIAA will have plausible deniability that they handed money over to the label, which will get the case tossed out.

Also, the RIAA has been petitioning for lowering royalties to artists for certain applications. Like ringtone sales, and other digital recordings.

Actually, it's pocket change to the oil companies.

hubiestubert: Also, the RIAA has been petitioning for lowering royalties to screwing over the artists as much as they can for certain applications. Like ringtone sales, and other digital recordings.

FTFY

Stop biatching about the RIAA when you obviously don't even know what the RIAA is.

/not RIAA

If the record companies ponied up the billions they've screwed artists out of since, um, forever, there would be no recession.

Actually, the RIAA has nothing to do with this lawsuit. The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers is who sued them and won.

And I'm highly, highly disappointed no one noticed that AOL, Real, and Yahoo lost to an ASCAP.

/directly relative of an asshat?

This article is not about the RIAA.

ASCAP has its own problems, but for the most part they're much more sane than the RIAA.

According to the RIAA it's more like two hundred and seventy billion dollars.

So the consumer is supposed to respect the artist and pay the online music servers for the songs, but the online music servers haven't been paying the artists. What are the chances of that?


Beretta3000

sys_64738: This article is not about the RIAA.

ASCAP has its own problems, but for the most part they're much more sane than the RIAA.

ASCAP actually represents the artists and their interests, for one.

So when you legally buy music online through proper channels, the money DOESN'T go to the artists? I'm SHOCKED.

To paraphrase Willie Nelson, $100 million isn't a lot if you say it quickly.

jonny_q: So when you legally buy music online through proper channels, the money DOESN'T go to the artists? I'm SHOCKED.

It might. Eventually. Once the label has turned over a bit of interest...

Oh, I see what you did there s'bmitty.

...$100 million in royalties. For those of you having trouble envisioning that figure, it's a loooooooot of frickin' money

loooooooot
100000000

Very nice. I approve.

AOL, RealNetworks and Yahoo could owe songwriters $100 million in royalties. For those of you having trouble envisioning that figure, it's a loooooooot of frickin' money

If you could somehow make $1 every second, it would take you just under 3 years and 3 months to make $100 million.

If you then took that $100 million, and converted them to pennies (10 billion pennies), you could nearly fill a football field with them (or about the same volume as 50 school buses!):




/OK, that picture is actually of 10,000,023,552 pennies, but still . . .
//Also, most banks are hesitant to give out 10 billion pennies, as there are only about 150 million US pennies in circulation
///pic links and pops to the MegaPenny Project

Anagrammer: as there are only about 150 million US pennies in circulation

Huh? On the same site, two pages lower, they cite an estimate of 200 billion pennies in circulation. There's a bit of a gap there.

wait wait wait...
AOL has that much money??

DIAF RIAA

degreeless: DIAF RIAA

I must say your article (and thread) reading skills are simply astounding. Please, teach me how to be as awesome as you.

Anagrammer: AOL, RealNetworks and Yahoo could owe songwriters $100 million in royalties. For those of you having trouble envisioning that figure, it's a loooooooot of frickin' money

If you could somehow make $1 every second, it would take you just under 3 years and 3 months to make $100 million.

If you then took that $100 million, and converted them to pennies (10 billion pennies), you could nearly fill a football field with them (or about the same volume as 50 school buses!):
/OK, that picture is actually of 10,000,023,552 pennies, but still . . .
//Also, most banks are hesitant to give out 10 billion pennies, as there are only about 150 million US pennies in circulation
///pic links and pops to the MegaPenny Project

And with my luck, I'd be stuck in line behind the little old lady who has to count each and every one of them out to pay for $100bn worth of groceries.

That's what...about six hours in Iraq?

AOL, RealNetworks and Yahoo could owe songwriters $100 million in royalties. For those of you having trouble envisioning that figure, it's a loooooooot of frickin' money

It takes the Bush administrations several hours to flush that much money down the toilet in Iraq.

sys_64738: This article is not about the RIAA.

ASCAP has its own problems, but for the most part they're much more sane than the RIAA.

As a member of ASCAP, I can only say:

THIS.


Also of interest, ASCAP has a petition going. A bill of rights for artists. Take a read, discuss. Artists have been getting the short end of the stick and this can help, methinks.

http://www.ascap.com/rights/billText.aspx

AOL, RealNetworks and Yahoo: three companies that nobody cares about.

MrEricSir 2008-05-02 04:39:22 AM
AOL, RealNetworks and Yahoo: three companies that nobody cares about.

I use, every day, one of those subscription based music services and would be very disappointed if it went away.

No one pointed out the blindingly obvious fail here?

"To be clear, the court did not award $100 million in royalties."