RIAA Forgets to Make Royalty Payments

theodp writes "NY Attorney General Eliot Spitzer agreed with the RIAA on one point - artists WERE being deprived of money that was rightfully theirs. But Spitzer managed to find $50 million for performers without shaking down grandmothers. Spitzer's culprits? A Who's Who of the nation's top recording companies - members of the RIAA - who failed to maintain contact with artists and stopped making required royalty payments."

Re:Motives

[JaffaKREE]

without shaking down grandmothers.

But who knows what else they're getting away with ?
Shaking down grandmothers makes life worth living !

No no no.

[bl1st3r]

Don't villianize the RIAA. It's not their fault the artists didn't want their money. After all, it should be the artists responsibility to track all playings of their song around the world.

That lie aside, the RIAA sucks. I'm glad I'm not a musician on an RIAA label, I would hate myself.

Say it aint so!

[dirtsurfer]

Don't tell me the RIAA are a bunch of hypocritical, dishonest bastards! Now I have nothing left to believe in.

Try to imagine:

[Anonymous Coward]

In Soviet Russia, RIAA pays you!

Re:Motives

[trentblase]

The state then holds these monies until a claim is made.

I claim it! The article doesn't say the claim has to be substantiated. And everyone knows that some random newspaper quote can be legally binding in the hands of a madman.

Re:Motives

[spaeschke]

Oh well. At least I gave him a better title than "law talking guy" =P

Re:Abandoned Property?

[agentZ]

"Hi? I'm calling for Mr. er... Ziggy Stardust. ... Wrong number? Oh, sorry to have you bothered you. It won't happen again."

Re:Motives

[SomeoneGotMyNick]

Sounds like the makings of a Monty Python skit

Re:Motives

[JaffaKREE]

If we allow grandmothers to download music, then the terrorists will have won.

If grandmothers are outlawed, only outlaws will have grandmothers !

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[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Is anyone suprised

[cluge]

Somwhere at an RIAA office:

"Hello, kettle it's the pot, line 2, he's says your black"

cluge

Found one!

[16K Ram Pack]

Hey RIAA!

Try looking here [dollywood.com]

Damn it...

[Anonymous Coward]

...I hate them so much!!!!!!!!

Re:Hmm...

[theAmazing10.t]

They must not of made too much effort in finding these artists. Some of the names on the list shouldn't be to hard to find.

I mean if they can't find Dolly Parton then obviously they aren't looking too hard.

Re:Where does the money go?

[Anonymous Coward]

Another question would be WHY the RIAA lost touch with these artists. Was it on purpose or accident?

it was a terrible accident... the artist was not looking, and that big truck...
oh, all happened so suddenly, terrible accident i'm telling you.

Re:Motives

[Evil Closet Monkey]

Unnamed Male 1: Trouble on the P2P networks! Unnamed Female 1: Oh no! What kind of trouble!? Unnamed Male 1: I don't know. Mr. Wetworth told me to come and say there is trouble at the mill; that's all. I didn't expect some kind of RIAA! *woosh* RIAA Leader: Nobody expects the RIAA! Our weapon is surprise; surprise and fear. Fear and surprise are two weapons. Fear and surprise and a ruthless efficiency, are three weapons! Fear and surprise and a ruthless efficiency and an almost fanatical devotion to the green back! etc... etc... etc...

Re:The man who fell to earth and back?

[Anonymous Coward]

Claiming they couldn't find the artists involved...

and think of those big mean ISP's that don't give out their records to RIAA, so that they could track down those... erm... artists.

darn, i hate those ISPs.

RIAA and Organized Crime

[Nonillion]

What's the difference? I personally think there should be astronomical fines, terminations and prison time for RIAA executives.

The RIAA is always looking out for the little guy

[Anonymous Coward]

...so they can either cheat him blind or sue him later on.

Re:Motives

[Snork Asaurus]

A brilliant adaptation - I wish I has mod points today.

Intercourse the RIAA.

How do you NOT find Dolly Parton

[JohnnyComeLately]

Good googolies....I think Stevie Wonder could find her in a room filled with women. But maybe Stevie is another artist they "couldn't find." I'm sure if they'd been downloading MP3s the RIAA could find them just fine, thank you...

Let's not forget the obligatory:
1. Charge people waaayyyyy too much for plastic, shiny disks
2. "Accidentally" lose track of famous artists, one of which lives in a huge amusement park that a 3 year old from Japan could locate
3. ????
4. PROFIT!!!!!! YEAH baby, YEAH!!
*rinse* *lather* *repeat*

John "Dripping with Irony"

Re:Hmm...

[LuxFX]

The RIAA is going out of there way to correct a royalty problem that may/may not have entirely been their fault

Sure, it sounds good now. But wait until the quarterly earnings are publicized. The RIAA will complain that earnings were mysteriously $50 Million under the projected earnings, and blame it all on piracy.

Re:Motives

[lildogie]

In Monty Python the grandmothers shake _you_ down.

They couldn't find DAVID BOWIE?!?!

[Thangodin]

Let me get this straight. They claim that they couldn't send people their royalties because they had lost touch with them.

How the hell do you lose someone like Bowie?

They obviously weren't trying very hard...

Re:Pure As Driven Snow

[mOdQuArK!]

I would really like to see him run for

President: he reminds me (historically)
of Teddy Roosevelt, a populist AND
conservative (in it's best definition)!

Actually, he might make a great U.S. Attorney General for a populist President - except that NYC might not want to let him go, and he'd probably be assassinated by some big-business interest before he was allowed anywhere near that level of influence...