RIAA Keeps Settlement Money, Artists May Sue

Written by enigmax on February 28, 2008 

Despite collecting an estimated several hundred million dollars in P2P related settlements from the likes of Napster, KaZaA and Bolt, prominent artists’ managers are complaining that so far, they haven’t received any compensation from the labels. According to a lawyer, some are considering legal action.

cash

When EMI, Universal Music and Warner music reached settlement agreements with the likes of Napster, KaZaA and Bolt, they collected hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation – money that was supposed to go to artists whose rights had been allegedly infringed upon when the networks were operating with unlicensed music.

Now, according to an article, the managers of some major artists are getting very impatient, as it appears the very people who were supposed to be compensated – the artists – haven’t received anything from the massive settlements. They say the cash – estimated to be as much as $400m – hasn’t filtered through to their clients and understandably they’re getting very impatient.

Lawyer John Branca, who has represented the likes of The Rolling Stones and Korn, said: “Artist managers and lawyers have been wondering for months when their artists will see money from the copyright settlements and how it will be accounted for.”

Indicating the levels of impatience with the big labels holding the money he added: “Some of them are even talking about filing lawsuits if they don’t get paid soon.”

Of course, EMI, Universal and Warner have a different take on the delay, with sources suggesting that it’s down to the difficulties in deciding who gets what money, based on the levels of copyright infringement for each individual group or artist.

A recording industry on the back foot having spent most of its time fighting the digital revolution rather than becoming part of it, is clearly trying to hang on to every penny, even when it comes to compensating the artists who they claim they were defending by taking legal action in the first place.

Irving Azoff, who manages Christina Aguilera, The Eagles, Van Halen, REO Speedwagon and Seal (amongst others) says it’s hard for artists to get what they deserve from the labels: “They will play hide and seek, but eventually will be forced to pay something,” he said. “The record companies have even tried to credit unrecouped accounts. It’s never easy for an artist to get paid their fair share.”

Typically, the labels see it a different way. An EMI spokeperson said that it was “sharing proceeds from the Napster and Kazaa settlements with artists and writers whose work was infringed upon” while Warner’s said the label is “sharing the Napster settlement with its recording artists and songwriters, and at this stage nearly all settlement monies have been disbursed.”

The Universal spokesman spoke only of the label’s ‘policy’ of sharing “its portion of various settlements with its artists, regardless of whether their contracts require it” with no mention of whether it had actually done this or not.

But typically, when money is involved, things start to get murky. The same sources who suggested the reasons for the delay in making payments are also suggesting that there might not be much money to even give to the artists.

It’s being claimed that after legal bills were subtracted from the hundreds of millions in settlements, there wasn’t much left over to hand out.

Previously: Swedish Record Labels See Filesharing as Virtue

Next: Cashing In on Naive BitTorrent Users

104 Responses

1 Feb 28, 2008 at 16:38 by Anonymous

meh. riaa is going down. dont know if this is positive for us pirates tbh. just means that the artists wants their monies. its probly going to rougher without riaa.

2 Feb 28, 2008 at 16:38 by Anonymous

wow. the RIAA are seriously a bunch of douchebags.

3 Feb 28, 2008 at 17:08 by =]

Hopefully this cripples them alot and brings them to media defenders level :P

4 Feb 28, 2008 at 17:17 by Nobody

Wow, that’s just wrong, even for them. Just out to screw *everyone*, even the people they’re supposedly representing.

5 Feb 28, 2008 at 17:17 by Rycon

Burn RIAA burn, hahaha.

6 Feb 28, 2008 at 17:32 by Paco420

Again… a lot of big words said about suing and what not… Till I see actually actions against the RIAA I won’t be convinced.

7 Feb 28, 2008 at 17:39 by skakidd

wow what a waste. piss off your customers piss off your artists. ruin peoples lives. and for what? to feed money into lawyers pockets.

if i were an riaa artist i’d get my money and leave.

can someone write up an article about what good the riaa does for artists because all i hear is anti piracy is that really it?

8 Feb 28, 2008 at 17:41 by Bolton

HA! They are certainly doomed. Why do they have to be so god damn greedy? They just haven’t learnt a thing. Just kill it now!

9 Feb 28, 2008 at 18:00 by The P!nk Pr!nce

‘It’s being claimed that after legal bills were subtracted from the hundreds of millions in settlements, there wasn’t much left over to hand out’

What the fuck was the point then!

10 Feb 28, 2008 at 18:17 by DL

not surprised they kept the money.

11 Feb 28, 2008 at 18:33 by cc

RIAA not only get money from P2P , they also get money from label .

wow , RIAA must be very rich

12 Feb 28, 2008 at 18:42 by ace hall

artists are doing what they’re doing
b’cos they love to do it,not b’cos of the money….or at lease that’s wat most of them are saying..

13 Feb 28, 2008 at 18:52 by el90

I dont think the point is to hang on to the money, they will give it out at some point, they know it…

…to me the point is… how much interest are they making on $400,000,000 that isn’t theirs? They will make another year or two’s proift then give the money away, bearing in mind then depreciation will have kicked in quite heavily.

Just another way to screw people for money.

14 Feb 28, 2008 at 19:11 by Dr Krall

Ha, ha. And now RIAA screws the labels and artists. RIAA, why not just fileshare instead.

15 Feb 28, 2008 at 19:13 by hilarious

“Of course, EMI, Universal and Warner have a different take on the delay, with sources suggesting that it’s down to the difficulties in deciding who gets what money, based on the levels of copyright infringement for each individual group or artist.”

It’s hilarious! They cry out a lot about all the lost income due to filesharing, but when it comes to it, they can’t determine who whas lost what! How can they sum up whats lost then?

16 Feb 28, 2008 at 20:01 by anon

ass busted big time

17 Feb 28, 2008 at 20:24 by Conglomeration

@12

You’re right, they do it because they love the music. Still, why should someone else profit for my work? That’s why the RIAA is retarded. Jack up the prices for themselves on someone elses product. AND THEN DON’T EVEN GIVE THEM ANYTHING?! Bullshit.

18 Feb 28, 2008 at 20:40 by Rekrul

The artists should also sue for their share of the money gained by suing file sharers. Of course it’s been stated that most of the money they gain that way goes into financing more lawsuits. Who cares? They certainly don’t care what they do to people, so the artists should take the same attitude and demand that they fork over the money.

19 Feb 28, 2008 at 20:47 by Anonymous

Even if it is for the love of music I can not stomach the fact that some fat parasites are taking advantage of me even for a penny!

Who are the thieves?

Vivendi Universal, Sony BMG, EMI, Time Warner and of course their attack chikens RIAA. CRIAA, BPI. . .

let finish all of them!

20 Feb 28, 2008 at 21:01 by peter griffin

ha!

there are high costs that make those settlements possible in the first place!

21 Feb 28, 2008 at 21:37 by Norm

Everything in the music industry is fucked up. All the labels, the radio stations, the RIAA – all of them behave like the mafia. I’ve seen the industry at work up close. I’m not surprised the riaa would do this.

22 Feb 28, 2008 at 21:38 by Conglomeration

NOFX LYRICS
“Dinosaurs Will Die”

(This is not a test of the Emergency Broadcast System. This is the real thing)

Kick back watch it crumble
See the drowning, watch the fall
I feel just terrible about it
That’s sarcasm, let it burn

I’m gonna make a toast when it falls apart
I’m gonna raise my glass above my heart
Then someone shouts “That’s what they get!”

For all the years of hit and run
For all the piss broke bands on VH1
Where did all, their money go?
Don’t we all know

Parasitic music industry
As it destroys itself
We’ll show them how it’s supposed to be

Music written from devotion
Not ambition, not for fame
Zero people are exploited
There are no tricks, up our sleeve

Gonna fight against the mass appeal
We’re gonna kill the 7 record deal
Make records that have more than one good song
The dinosaurs will slowly die
And I do believe no one will cry
I’m just fucking glad I’m gonna be
There to watch the fall

Prehistoric music industry
Three feet in la brea tar
Extinction never felt so good

If you think anyone would feel badly
You are sadly, mistaken
The time has come for evolution
Fuck collusion, kill the five

Whatever happened to the handshake?
Whatever happened to deals no-one would break?
What happened to integrity?
It’s still there it always was
For playing music just because
A million reasons why

(All) dinosaurs will die
(All) dinosaurs will die
(All) dinosaurs will die

23 Feb 28, 2008 at 21:41 by santoscrew

cash rules everything around me…

24 Feb 28, 2008 at 22:17 by stacr

how pathetic. the riaa suck! All the money has been “dispersed to the artists whose rights were infringed upon” my ass… if the manager of Korn and The Rolling Stones says they haven’t gotten their fair share, then the money hasn’t been dispersed… not like a Korn/Stones song was never illegally downloaded.

that being said, flip the RIAA the bird, and if you like muse, queen, franz ferdinand, or the cold war kids, check out this band “Carlotta” and support some corporate-free music: http://www.CarlottaTheBand.com

25 Feb 28, 2008 at 22:17 by Real

Nothing left to distribute, they spent it all buying unauthorized tracks from iTunes.

26 Feb 28, 2008 at 22:25 by Zamfir

lol. The music industry and the RIAA in particular are the greediest bastards ever to walk the face of this good earth. They never fail to surprise me.

27 Feb 28, 2008 at 22:26 by bender

“We don’t need no water let the motherfucker burn …. BURN MOTHERFUCKER”

28 Feb 28, 2008 at 22:40 by mobile2fun.com

I am not sure that RIAA can firmly make control over it in near future

29 Feb 28, 2008 at 22:48 by damienhunter

I wonder what would happen if you had a bunch of scammers sending out fake settlement letters for artists and collecting for themselves? Because this doesn’t sound much different from what the RIAA is doing.

30 Feb 28, 2008 at 22:50 by abc com print bingo card

auspiciously attested sickle councils melodrama!thoughtfulness?escorts?

31 Feb 28, 2008 at 23:15 by unknow

it was a scam and now that lady should use this and counter sue RIAA.

32 Feb 28, 2008 at 23:26 by frankiestone

We didn’t really believe it was about the artists, now did we?

33 Feb 28, 2008 at 23:28 by Kevin

All the more reason for the RIAA to die.

When can we all have a system where we can pay the artists directly!

34 Feb 28, 2008 at 23:47 by Bomb The System

Sound like these Domestic Terrorists need to be closed with , engaged, and destroyed. What is the difference between the RIAA and the Mafia? Nothing a Marine sniper couldn’t fix

35 Feb 28, 2008 at 23:58 by teknosapien

I’ve dropped any artist that is associated with the RIAA. I only get my music from underground sources or http://www.archive.org

36 Feb 29, 2008 at 00:23 by Anonymous

yes. and before you buy anything check http://riaaradar.com ftw

37 Feb 29, 2008 at 00:24 by cary sherman's pillowy lips

yes! and before you buy anything check http://riaaradar ftw

38 Feb 29, 2008 at 01:05 by AR

I wouldnt mind paying for the music if all the money went to the artist instead all those middle men.

39 Feb 29, 2008 at 01:25 by miquel

it’s a little amusing (in a scary kind of way) that RIAA is very quick to place and tag a $$ value to individual copyright transgressions when making a case to get the money and screw the little man, but suddenly all that good math breaks down when splitting up the proceeds…

40 Feb 29, 2008 at 01:32 by Anonymous

Hmm…

It’s tough to shed a tear when wealthy mainstream artists are complaining that the record labels aren’t giving them a slice of a laughably excessive $400 million dollar filesharing damage settlement, isn’t it?

But it’s real easy to point and laugh: one camp of greedy sleazeballs turning on another camp of greedy sleazeballs because they can’t agree on how to divvy up the extortion money.

Godspeed, you corrupt ouroboros.

41 Feb 29, 2008 at 01:57 by Roflcer of the Lawl

Fuck all those assholes. The sooner bands figure out a better way to get paid than going through shithead record labels and riaa the better.

42 Feb 29, 2008 at 02:01 by Martin

“suggesting that it’s down to the difficulties in deciding who gets what money, based on the levels of copyright infringement for each individual group or artist.”

Isn’t that the same calculation used for the amount they wanted ?

43 Feb 29, 2008 at 02:08 by Ray NL

So who is stealing from the artists now??

First they sue cos the users are stealing from the artists and now they have the money they keep it, so in fact stealing it from the ppl they ‘represent’..

44 Feb 29, 2008 at 02:18 by Kevin

Fucking criminals, the lot of them.

The biggest problem with capitalism is this example. It’s ok to be a criminal as long as you have plenty of money.

45 Feb 29, 2008 at 02:48 by dave

Ah again as usual big business in screwing the small guy first sue the broke guy then screw the small guy and always the big business screws the bands as well as the fans. Folks don’t you understand this game has always been about money train. if there is ever a shread of anything free in this world Illuminati bankers want a peace of the action. they lend money to RIAA then RIAA is now the slave to banksters Illuminati.
Look at water it was free now they bottle it for a dollar a pint. To regulate how people share music is the goofiest thing I ever hears of. These people are lucky to sell cd’s its not like its something anyone needs in life. Go ahead sue RIAA you will get nothing from me as I would rather never listen to a piece of music again then put one red cent in your pocket.
As for the rest of this world watch out as we lose our rights and more recourses to the greedy likes of media that is bought and paid for by the Illuminati that also own the worlds banks and energy companies and all of global corp earth. Banks lend to them making them servants to their lender! RIAA is just another corp bitch belonging to the banks!
want a link on the global truth go moneymasters.com . The RIAA is an attempt to squeeze more money out of the public as usual. RIAA true colors are now public knowledge! Now you see who they really are. Thieves

46 Feb 29, 2008 at 03:39 by Anonymous

ummm… who does the riaa work for? the artis. they’re just doing their dirty work. i know they’re bastards and all, but i think the same amount of hate should be directed at the source. if the artists wanted to change riaa’s policies or close them down they could do so easily but they don’t. i don’t see why they want anything to do with this “dirty” money at all, a lot of it has forcibly been collected from poor students and families.

47 Feb 29, 2008 at 04:09 by FreeBytesMan

This just goes to show that the fn RIAA doesn’t give a sh*t about protecting the artists’ interests. It’s all about ensuring they have a place, they keep their monopoly, lining their pockets, and continuing to prevent the artists and the consumers from existing with out them.

F those greedy RIAA/CRIA/MPAA bastards!

48 Feb 29, 2008 at 04:17 by Anonymous

That’s what those cock sucking rock stars get for priding in those pieces of shit. Fuck it, it just continues to prove that these people who point the finger at sites like tpb and OiNK (rip) saying they’re not in it for the love of music and art, that they’re in it for the money are incredible hypocrites when they say they’re representing artists whose rights have been infringed upon.

49 Feb 29, 2008 at 04:47 by riaa killahz

fuckin’ RIAA motherfuckers.

look…everyone here knows their business model is dead. this is just one of the last gasps these cunts will heave before they die altogether.

only thing now is to convince anyone who loves music that the corporate music business model (lots of hype for artists, lots of money, fame, etc… just like you see with diddy on that stupid MTV show where he treats white people like shit)has been dead for a long time and not to continue to propagate this by buying downloads. fuck…music is free.

the musicians will make money touring from now on. music is free.

50 Feb 29, 2008 at 05:34 by As An Industry Slowly Dies.....

[quote comment="300320"]ummm… who does the riaa work for? the artists. they’re just doing their dirty work. i know they’re bastards and all, but i think the same amount of hate should be directed at the source. if the artists wanted to change riaa’s policies or close them down they could do so easily but they don’t. i don’t see why they want anything to do with this “dirty” money at all, a lot of it has forcibly been collected from poor students and families.[/quote]

Sorry, you’re wrong. The RIAA does NOT work for or represent artists. They work for and represent the major recording labels. RIAA likes to claim that they’re working for the rights of the artists but that’s total bullshit. They were created and are funded solely by the record labels.

51 Feb 29, 2008 at 05:38 by As An Industry Slowly Dies.....

LOL at all the artists and managers who actually thought that they would ever see a penny of those settlements. How naive can they be?

Now Stones/Korn/and the rest of you get back on your sold out knees. You’ve got a lot more industry dick to suck.

52 Feb 29, 2008 at 05:46 by nexus

capitalism Must die

53 Feb 29, 2008 at 06:07 by Who?

‘It’s being claimed that after legal bills were subtracted from the hundreds of millions in settlements, there wasn’t much left over to hand out’

Who is claiming this?

54 Feb 29, 2008 at 06:13 by Anonymous

For the good of this generations youth…ban MTV, rap and hip hop and music videos. Revert back to live concerts in smaller venues at affordable prices. Bands play, get paid after the show and move on down the road.

55 Feb 29, 2008 at 06:21 by Anonymous

digg this

56 Feb 29, 2008 at 06:22 by ririri

digg it

57 Feb 29, 2008 at 06:22 by ririri

[quote comment="300406"]digg it[/quote]
[quote comment="300405"]digg this[/quote]
gao xiao

58 Feb 29, 2008 at 06:25 by Kevin

jU[;']
\j76..’]

59 Feb 29, 2008 at 06:42 by Rust

Did anyone really expect the artists to get anything anyways? All these lawsuits are for copyright infringement, right? So the people who end up with the money are the people who own the copyrights – and that is almost NEVER the actual band or artist.

Pick a major-label album (or even most minors and indies) and check the copyright info on the back or inside. Does the copyright name match the band name or any of it’s members? Not damn likely. So why should they get any money from a copyright infringement lawsuit? They don’t own the copyrights! Their label or publishing company does!

Now before you get all out of sorts, I agree that it is a disgusting situation. The artists *should* get a share of that money. The simple fact is that they currently (for the most part) have no legal right to it, since they signed all their rights over to their record label.

60 Feb 29, 2008 at 08:35 by CaptSlapAHoe

RIAA iz dumbz LOLZ!!

Seriously, fuck you RIAA.

**continues doing things he knows piss you off*

61 Feb 29, 2008 at 08:42 by Rapper Alliance

who cares about friends
with some baking soda you could get a benz

62 Feb 29, 2008 at 08:58 by debarunthepsychic

so we shudnt buy albums then i mean our artist dont get paid after all the shit they go through

63 Feb 29, 2008 at 09:19 by Poster

So… something I was wondering just now, why arent the sources of the article listed? Practically anybody can write “he said that and this”. Not that I dont believe this, but still…

64 Feb 29, 2008 at 10:02 by kidTHATthinks

[quote comment="300209"]We didn’t really believe it was about the artists, now did we?[/quote]

i knew that… and still, you made me sad :(

[quote comment="300220"]What is the difference between the RIAA and the Mafia? Nothing a Marine sniper couldn’t fix[/quote]

sorry, but world doesn’t work that way… one can do shit about it. liberty, equality, and fraternity! anyone? France, where are you? liberté, égalité, et de la fraternité!

65 Feb 29, 2008 at 10:29 by Pussytits

http://cheesealliance.zitenet.com

Visit my forums there. If you have a problem with me advertising in the comments via a proxy then go complain in the forums. One post more for me.

If you are considering signing up the layback-rules forum please be active at least. Activity is the best thing we need at the moment because we need it. The forums originally had been popular yet it got shut down, we didn’t save a fucking backup and we’re starting over again.

We lost so many members so we’ll need new ones, this is where you people come in. Just join, make a few posts, bookmark, when you’re bored come back in, post a little, then do this once in a while.. even if that while is months we need posts.

66 Feb 29, 2008 at 10:40 by nave

It seems like the RIAA’s “place” is becoming less and less clear. It would be really interesting to see financial records of the RIAA. They very well might very hurting and whatever means of survival necessary will be taken. Remember people, corporations function like organisms – survival by whatever means necessary.

67 Feb 29, 2008 at 11:37 by For the artist

{who does the riaa work for? the artis. they’re just doing their dirty work. i know they’re bastards and all, but i think the same amount of hate should be directed at the source.}

Number 46 you haven’t a clue, nor do all those of you who bitch about the artists. The RIAA are suing to reduce artists royalties, treat them like indentured servants and you think the RIAA is doing the artists work? Dumbass. Why not find out what you’re talking about rather than repeat some ridiculous comment you think justifies your stealing of music.

The RIAA treats artists and music like commodities. It as never been the MUSIC business, it has always been the music BUSINESS, and like any business it is more about the perpetuation of the business itself than the product – think cigarettes. Any businessman would rather sell toothpaste than music. Ok, this week you use colgate,and next week you might change brand but you’ll still be buying toohpaste. The “poor” record company shills can’t figure that people’s tastes change – what sold last week might not sell next week… That’s why the industry is so sh*tty. They have gotten to the stage where only manufactured, marketed bullcrap sells just enough to keep them in their jobs.

People here steal music. Doesn’t matter if its Madonna or “Mad Geoff” from Spokane… the RIAA are a bunch of sh*t sucking scumbags, but that does not enable anyone’s self righteous justification for theft – there’s really no other way to put that…

Go and have a look at http://www.futureofmusic.org/ and educate yourselves. Find out about a record contract. Discover that the record companies rip the artist off more than anyone would ever believe.

You people do not support music, you are just leeching off the artists in EXACTLY THE SAME WAY AS THE RIAA.

Go find some independent bands, buy their stuff, see them live – make them popular so that they do not have to rely on the monopolistic media conglomerates that control the record companies, radio, television, movies and, one day, the Internet. Help reclaim music from the multinationals.

And in the mean time, try and find out some information about the subject on which you wish to comment. Otherwise you are part of the “RIAA problem.”

68 Feb 29, 2008 at 12:46 by J. L. Lee

Hire Me! … I’ll make them an offer they can’t refuse.

69 Feb 29, 2008 at 12:48 by Psi

Well the RIAA seem pretty fucking pointless if they are suing people infringing copyright just to keep the money for themselves.

I believe this is another win for file sharing, as it is just another dead end for artists who are trying to make a buck. Maybe they will move with technology rather than fight against if only to receive nothing in return.

70 Feb 29, 2008 at 14:00 by ace hall

@70,
no,they’re not pointless,no body is
pointless when there’s lots of $$$
to b made,n this copyright thing is just one fo thier justification to sue….they gave record company a false reason to fear,n offer thier armies(lawyer) for a fee…simple.

N file sharing will never win,cos when
goverment sided with big corps,they get lots of $$$,it just a matter of time b’fore the .gov tilt…

n artists ? oh they’re screwed…in more ways than one..

71 Feb 29, 2008 at 16:00 by oneplusone

The fact that the RIAA are in it for the money hardly surprises me. The artists are pretty naive. I mean, wtf did they think would happen when a bunch of lawyers are involved? Ostensibly for the artist’s benefit. Jokey-joke town.

72 Feb 29, 2008 at 16:07 by Neil K

RIAA and the entire music industry are all sell-outs. Buy indy music, indy banned books like “America Deceived” and read indy blogs (like Torrent). Forget the junk MSM feeds you everyday.
Last link (unless Google Books caves to the gov’t and drops the title):
http://www.iuniverse.com/bookstore/book_detail.asp?&isbn=0-595-38523-0

73 Feb 29, 2008 at 16:15 by oneplusone

Get up, get-get get down,
RIAA, where’s the late crown?

74 Feb 29, 2008 at 16:35 by Bill Gates

Hey RIAA, I have nearly 10,000 tracks saved on my HDD if you want to come collect my money. My name and address are as follows:

Bill Gates
c/o Windows Corporation
Redmond, WA ….

I’ve got so much money I don’t know what else to buy so I’ll go ahead and pay every artist whats coming to them. I could almost eliminate world hunger with my massive wealth alone but that would be silly. I’d rather help the starving artists that are sucking dick to get some dinner.

Really I just want to be like Scrooge McDuck and built a giant money vault that I can swim around in.

This doesn’t make any sense but I was laughing when I thought of Scrooge McDuck

75 Feb 29, 2008 at 17:49 by UraPhake

This is just more of the same “Hollywood bookkeeping” which writers and actors have complained about for years; a movie will make a lot of money, but the writers (and actors with a contract for part of the “take”) will get next to nothing due to the studio making bogus claims that it “didn’t make money” after production and distribution costs were “accounted for.”

Maybe now people like Lars Ulrich will see how stupid they’ve been for supporting the RIAA.

76 Feb 29, 2008 at 20:39 by JJ

THis story is funny!

77 Mar 01, 2008 at 01:54 by Ken

Again I say F the RIAA, no really go fuck yerself buncha lowlife scumsucking scatmunchers!

78 Mar 01, 2008 at 03:21 by Death To Spammers

[quote comment="300512"]http://sleeze********.zitenet.com

Visit my forums there. If you have a problem with me advertising in the comments via a proxy then go complain in the forums. One post more for me.[/quote]

I have a better idea, spammer. How about we DDOS your lame ass? Go fuck yourself.

79 Mar 01, 2008 at 03:25 by captain hook

The RIAA’s lawyers ultimately benefit from this. They get paid regardless. They know this is a cash cow for them. They convinced the RIAA that litigation is the best way to improve their bottom lines. These lawyers don’t want file sharing to cease, for fear the money train will disappear. The lawyers have their payments coming, the RIAA is holding on to the cash, hoping for hope, that they can come out ahead, yet their is no accountability for the artists. And the country is heading into a recession. The artists need to come together and file suit against the RIAA for misrepresentation.
The RIAA represents all recorded artists under contract as a whole. Who and why they target certain indivduals for using the internet for copyright infringement seems to be a mystery, but if they represent everyone under contract than they should target each artist’s work that is downloaded or uploaded that way they can treat all artist the same when the time comes to hand out checks to each artist. lol

80 Mar 01, 2008 at 03:33 by Melted Metal Web Radio

Well folks, I think the time has come for an investigation by the Justice Department. The problem is, the current Justice Department has a serious lack of credibility, and that it is tied to the Bush administration’s Copyright Royalty Board (CRM). Big business and big conservative government are taking not only the small guys for a long ride, but most of the middle-sized guys as well. Let’s get a ‘reasonable’ white house administration elected, and send this whole mess to a ‘new and honorable’ Justice Department.

T.J. Grant, VP of Programming
Melted Metal Web Radio
http://www.meltedmetal.com/

81 Mar 01, 2008 at 03:48 by Cyrus R

This just confirms what many of us already knew about them. The scum sucking maggots would steal the pennies from a dead man’s eyes, rob their own mothers blind. Even though they already live in shameless luxury, like the churches. The Mafia isn’t so bad in comparison. I for one certainly don’t buy CDs anymore, and if I were a musician I’d give up music before enlisting their “services”. You deal with the devil and you’re sure to get burned. There are other better distribution methods; -the Internet, and look what Prince did. Bittorrent reaches a worldwide audience. Set up a Web site with free samples, and offer albums for whatever people can afford or want to pay, say $1-$5. You’d rake in millions. How much more do you want?

So you decide to go with Sony like the bigshots. Why why why??? When Neil Diamond released his new album in 2005 it may as well have been classified top secret for all the publicity it was given. The only way people found out about it was because of the News stories on the Sony rootkit(c) fiasco. Because of that they ensured that nobody would buy it, and those who now knew about it and wanted it got it via bittorrent. If he had offered it online as suggested he would have been able to afford the latest gold plated diamond studded nuclear powered Lear jet, rather than have to settle for the brass plated version.

82 Mar 01, 2008 at 03:58 by Cyrus another

Doesn’t Prince have his own Concorde? I guess he likes his space but really, that’s just a little wasteful I think!

83 Mar 01, 2008 at 04:09 by Cyrus R

You can be sure they never had any intention of paying the artists. Just part of their propaganda to justify their immoral behavior. Meantime thousands of innocent people have had their lives ruined for nothing.

Good luck with suing them. They don’t even pay up when you win. Even if they did have to pay out millions, it wouldn’t be so much as drop in the bucket to them, more like a grain of sand on the beach. They’re still laughing, and they’re no strangers to litigation. That doesn’t bother them. It’s what they do, what they live for. If it wasn’t for so-called copyright infringement, they’d still be suing their own clients and each other.

The best and only thing is to seize and confiscate all their assets and jail them for a long time, which is still better than they deserve.

84 Mar 01, 2008 at 04:11 by Cyrus really

They’ve been screwing the artists for so long, let them see what it feels like for a change. Compensation time is coming!

85 Mar 01, 2008 at 04:30 by Peter Robeson

Who needs them? When you have a pebble in your shoe you remove it. Leeches on your skin you remove them. Watch them weeping when the economy takes a nosedive, or they suffer an untimely death. Who will grieve for them while they mourn their losses, and because they can’t take it with them? What will they do when their judgment comes? Try to bribe their way out and buy time? Their judge won’t be interested in their ill-gotten wealth.

86 Mar 01, 2008 at 04:32 by Bret Wilkins

Surely now everyone will see them for the joke they are. File sharers and music lovers full steam ahead.

87 Mar 01, 2008 at 04:57 by Bret Wilkins

When a thief calls others thieves who takes them seriously? You can’t, even if it were true which it’s not. They are the real criminals, and file sharers are just normal decent and honest people, sharing what they have with others, which is what the Internet is all about. Many prefer just to take, because they haven’t learnt to share, or because they have to unfairly pay for uploads also or their IP makes it difficult, but that’s ok too. I don’t give and expect something in return. I don’t know who gets what anyway. This whole war against the Internet and sites offering music should be stopped, and would be if the music mongrels were shut down and put out of business. If CD sales stopped tomorrow, they’d still be suing to the end. The law must clamp down on them and restore some sanity. At least for the sake of all (honest ones) who depend on the Internet for their livelihood and education.

88 Mar 01, 2008 at 19:21 by BadMoJo

They will screw anyone they can.

89 Mar 01, 2008 at 21:13 by mierda media

It’s being claimed that after legal bills were subtracted from the hundreds of millions in settlements, there wasn’t much left over to hand out.
You dont pay when you win.
Lying bags of mierda.

90 Mar 02, 2008 at 06:38 by LOL

So, in other worda, the LAWYERS are making money and the ARTISTS are still starving?

Now I know who paid for the DMCA, it was the lawyer groups!!

91 Mar 02, 2008 at 17:27 by Beldin

Look, we already knew that the RIAA is nothing but a bunch of scumbags, so why should this surprise anyone. The blood-sucking lawyers take the biggest portion of any settlement, then the scumbags at RIAA get their share to portion out to their employees. Finally the labels get their cut and there isn’t enough left to give anything to the artists. Typical.

92 Mar 03, 2008 at 00:48 by Scientology makes me laugh

Jesus Christ, damn shitheads.
I can understand artists wanting to be compensated for what we have downloaded but if these assholes arent going to give them the money they dexerve from the settlements then whats the point. STOP BOTHERING THE FILE SHARING COMMUNITY

93 Mar 03, 2008 at 00:53 by Nate

[quote comment="299990"]wow. the RIAA are seriously a bunch of douchebags.[/quote]
Amen!

94 Mar 03, 2008 at 03:05 by ArtyTorrent

This news doesn’t directly affect filesharers. What it DOES do is serve as a reminder to musicians. The message is this:
“IF YOU ARE AN ARTIST, DO NOT SIGN A RECORD DEAL. DO NOT BE A PROSTITUTE FOR THE PIMPS OF THE RIAA.”

Anyone that signs a record deal with a major label is getting into bed with the devil. Stay independent. Control your own finances. Leave the lawyers to die.

95 Mar 03, 2008 at 04:55 by lilyleon

wow…
Ha, ha. And now RIAA screws the labels and artists. RIAA, why not just fileshare instead.
I will paste this news in my blog on the dating site ———— Tallmeet.com ——- And as a part-time model, I uploaded my best photos, the members there said I am amazing. here are many people like me. interested in?Just search the username, you may want to check them first.

96 Mar 03, 2008 at 05:40 by Darian

Funny how after all that crying and hollering about people infringing on the artist’s rights, as soon as they actually get the money in hand it magically vanishes in paperwork related costs.

And the RIAA wonders why people use P2P in the first place.

97 Mar 03, 2008 at 21:38 by No riaa

i and anyone i know wont buy any thing associated with the riaa

98 Mar 04, 2008 at 04:13 by Squeak

The RIAA thought it was safe in it’s tin suit facing the little guy but with bare ass facing it’s stable of artists. However, when bending over to pick up the soap…

99 Mar 04, 2008 at 09:53 by hiro81

I can’t believe people are surprised by this. RIAA Beach Safety said it all perfectly, about time more American artists woke the fuck up.

100 Mar 05, 2008 at 09:39 by Bret

@ 67
You’re just p-d off because u have a different viewpoint, being on the other side of file sharing. Don’t tell me, you get all your music for free right, like the DJs?

No need to start calling people names though because of your bad karma. You’re not in charge buddy. Music fans are. You pander to them for your living. Don’t screw with them. If you do it for love, then quit bitchin about file sharers. A lot of it does not infringe on copright you know, and what may do in some obscure way is what it is, and how it will be. Better get used to it. We the people make the rules, and we have spoken. We say it’s fine and dandy and none of us voted it to be illegal.

101 Mar 05, 2008 at 09:58 by BretS

It’s what I’ve been doing all my life and I’m not about to change now for your sudden attack of obsessive greed. There was never any problem in the past with recording, being considered legally acceptable. Downloading data is no different than radio taping or recording from LP or tape; or even taping from TV, the rights for which were guaranteed by the Sony vs Betamax ruling. Fair use has nothing to do with theft or piracy, as it is merely for personal non-profit use. Anyone who seriously believes that propaganda should be taken out and shot, or locked up and throw away the key. We don’t believe it of course. If you don’t believe it why do you keep spouting it? We have a sixth sense about such things. For instance, we can tell whenever the RIAA is lying. Simply, whenever they open their cake holes to speak. I pass wind in their general direction. Seriously, if I had to pay their extortionist demands on every title I own, it would be more than their entire operation is worth. Think about it. Likewise too for all you thieving artists & music business people who get everything they want for free without having to bother with long tedious file sharing, and you are the ones who can afford it easily you penny pinchers. And you say we are tightwads. We can’t afford it. Your incomes are like a million times higher than ours.

102 Mar 08, 2008 at 04:59 by John B

Just goes to show the recording companies aren’t looking out for the artist’s interests (which they implied to be able to sue P2Ps) but only for their own interests. Out of 400m, I bet NONE gets to any artist. Sure am glad those guys aren’t on MY side! So what excuse will they use to steal the next dollar out of our pockets?

103 Mar 31, 2008 at 10:34 by BrainaicX

Who needs moral high ground when your standing on a mountain of money…

104 Jul 22, 2008 at 22:20 by Anonymous

The Ironies abound, I think the RIAA deserves to be sued by the artists, after all, this was supposedly all about THEM so THEY deserve COMPENSATION, so said the RIAA, that the ARTISTS are being hurt by piracy. Talk about lying through their teeth, this whole fiasco was just so THE RIAA could get the money. Sue away music artists sue away.

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