RIAA Keeps Settlement Money, Artists May Sue
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.
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
122 Responses (Add yours or TrackBack)
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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.
wow. the RIAA are seriously a bunch of douchebags.
Hopefully this cripples them alot and brings them to media defenders level :P
Wow, that’s just wrong, even for them. Just out to screw *everyone*, even the people they’re supposedly representing.
Burn RIAA burn, hahaha.
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.
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?
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!
‘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!
not surprised they kept the money.
RIAA not only get money from P2P , they also get money from label .
wow , RIAA must be very rich
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..
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.
Ha, ha. And now RIAA screws the labels and artists. RIAA, why not just fileshare instead.
“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?
ass busted big time
@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.
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.
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!
ha!
there are high costs that make those settlements possible in the first place!
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.
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
cash rules everything around me…
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
Nothing left to distribute, they spent it all buying unauthorized tracks from iTunes.
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