[Quote:]

On December 1 The Hollywood Reporter revealed that the RIAA is currently petitioning the panel of federal government Copyright Royalty Judges to lower the rates paid to publishers and songwriters for use of lyrics and melodies in applications like cell phone ring tones and other digital recordings. The last time the American government set the rate was in 1981, but since that time, the RIAA argues in its petition, a lot has changed.

“While record companies and music publishers were able to agree on royalty rates during that 25-year period, the assumptions on which those decisions were based have changed beyond recognition,” the RIAA brief reads.

There’s no doubt about that, but it’s obnoxious to see the RIAA finally acknowledge that fact only when it serves to aid their cause rather than that of consumers who rejected CD-based distribution years before the music industry got onboard the digital distribution train. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the RIAA maintains that in the modern period when piracy began devastating the record industry (Highly debatable. Sales went down, but a direct relationship to piracy is not proven. -ed.) profits to publishers from sales of ringtones and other “innovative services” grew dramatically. Record industry executives believe this to be cause to advocate reducing the royalties paid to the artists who wrote the original music.

As quoted by The Hollywood Reporter,”Mechanical royalties currently are out of whack with historical and international rates,” RIAA executive VP and General Counsel Steven Marks said. “We hope the judges will restore the proper balance by reducing the rate and moving to a more flexible percentage rate structure so that record companies can continue to create the sound recordings that drive revenues for music publishers.”

The language of this statement reveals a great deal about who the RIAA is looking out for, and it’s not artists. Couched in terms of apparent necessity, the RIAA’s is insisting that the real musicians be paid less so that the record companies can continue to “drive revenues.”

Technology has made it easier for the distribution of media. It’s the RIAA who should be getting lesser ‘royalties’ for each copy sold, not the artists.

It would be great if a judge looked at this case, weighed the evidence, then said “ACTUALLY, RIAA, I’m assigning all royalties to the people who create the music, with the exception of a small stipend to pay you for lawyers’ fees, since that’s your sole function these days. Now shut the fuck up and get out of my courtroom before I have you all shot.”