The RIAA's not getting much return on its investment
#1
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
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The RIAA's not getting much return on its investment
Ha ha ha ha ha. RIAA paid its lawyers more than $16,000,000 in 2008 to recover only $391,000!!!
Big hat tip to my friend Jon Newton at p2pnet.net for uncovering these documents.
The RIAA's "business plan" is even worse than I'd guessed it was.
The RIAA paid Holmes Roberts & Owen $9,364,901 in 2008, Jenner & Block more than $7,000,000, and Cravath Swain & Moore $1.25 million, to pursue its "copyright infringement" claims, in order to recover a mere $391,000. [ps there were many other law firms feeding at the trough too; these were just the ones listed among the top 5 independent contractors.]
Embarrassing.
If the average settlement were $3,900, that would mean 100 settlements for the entire year.
As bad as it was, I guess it was better than the numbers for 2007, in which more than $21 million was spent on legal fees, and $3.5 million on "investigative operations" ... presumably MediaSentry. And the amount recovered was $515,929.
And 2006 was similar: they spent more than $19,000,000 in legal fees and more than $3,600,000 in "investigative operations" expenses to recover $455,000.
So all in all, for a 3 year period, they spent around $64,000,000 in legal and investigative expenses to recover around $1,361,000.
Shrewd.
No wonder they get paid the big bucks
http://recordingindustryvspeople.blo...s-lawyers.html
Big hat tip to my friend Jon Newton at p2pnet.net for uncovering these documents.
The RIAA's "business plan" is even worse than I'd guessed it was.
The RIAA paid Holmes Roberts & Owen $9,364,901 in 2008, Jenner & Block more than $7,000,000, and Cravath Swain & Moore $1.25 million, to pursue its "copyright infringement" claims, in order to recover a mere $391,000. [ps there were many other law firms feeding at the trough too; these were just the ones listed among the top 5 independent contractors.]
Embarrassing.
If the average settlement were $3,900, that would mean 100 settlements for the entire year.
As bad as it was, I guess it was better than the numbers for 2007, in which more than $21 million was spent on legal fees, and $3.5 million on "investigative operations" ... presumably MediaSentry. And the amount recovered was $515,929.
And 2006 was similar: they spent more than $19,000,000 in legal fees and more than $3,600,000 in "investigative operations" expenses to recover $455,000.
So all in all, for a 3 year period, they spent around $64,000,000 in legal and investigative expenses to recover around $1,361,000.
Shrewd.
No wonder they get paid the big bucks
http://recordingindustryvspeople.blo...s-lawyers.html
#3
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#4
Re: The RIAA's not getting much return on its investment
a random college student who downloads an album from P2P to see if it's worth buying
#5
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Re: The RIAA's not getting much return on its investment
#6
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Re: The RIAA's not getting much return on its investment
But... all the while, the record companies are embroiled in the largest copyright infringement case in history via their Canadian subsidiaries to the tune of billions. Warner Music Canada, Sony BMG Music Canada, EMI Music Canada, and Universal Music Canada, the four primary members of the Canadian Recording Industry Association are being sued by artists for theft. They basically sold millions of records nnd never paid a dime to the copyright holders and artists.
They are the biggest 'thieves' on the planet. Torrenters are bush league compared to the kind of corporate theft the record companies pull off.
And all the while the stock value of WMG and the other RIAA companies have dropped like a rock, and their business model is in steep decline. So it's just a pathetic mess of old dinosaur companies, and stupid old men, who weren't able to change with the times. They are the big thieves, trying to punish the little thieves, as their whole business model collapses.
They are the biggest 'thieves' on the planet. Torrenters are bush league compared to the kind of corporate theft the record companies pull off.
And all the while the stock value of WMG and the other RIAA companies have dropped like a rock, and their business model is in steep decline. So it's just a pathetic mess of old dinosaur companies, and stupid old men, who weren't able to change with the times. They are the big thieves, trying to punish the little thieves, as their whole business model collapses.
#7
DVD Talk Hero
Re: The RIAA's not getting much return on its investment
That said, once iTunes came along I didn't need to illegally download any more. The only reason I did in the first place was to get music (especially "just one song") that wasn't easily available elsewhere. Now, almost everything I want I can get off iTunes.
#8
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Re: The RIAA's not getting much return on its investment
The only music I don't pirate is from bands I absolutely love. Is it wrong? Sure, but so is charging me $16.99 for a catalog release from 1993. $10 is my price point on all CDs, anything higher and it just isn't worth wasting the money. Especially when that voice in the back of my mind keeps reminding me that I could save that money and download the album to see if it's even any good.
#9
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Re: The RIAA's not getting much return on its investment
I can't speak for anyone else, but when it comes to the music I download, I'll buy it if I like it. If not, it gets deleted. No point in keeping something that's not worth my money.
#10
DVD Talk Legend
Re: The RIAA's not getting much return on its investment
That's how I am. If it is something that I want, I will buy the physical product. Partly because I happen to like physical product, and partly to support the band. Usually I'll just listen to clips if I can find them to determine whether or not to buy, but sometimes I'll download the whole thing. Many times I will download it when it leaks early, just to get it early. Then I'll go buy it upon release.
#11
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Re: The RIAA's not getting much return on its investment
That's how I am. If it is something that I want, I will buy the physical product. Partly because I happen to like physical product, and partly to support the band. Usually I'll just listen to clips if I can find them to determine whether or not to buy, but sometimes I'll download the whole thing. Many times I will download it when it leaks early, just to get it early. Then I'll go buy it upon release.
But keeping pissing on the people who actually buy physical media RIAA. We'll get fed up soon enough.
#12
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Re: The RIAA's not getting much return on its investment
If i don't like it, i usually end up keeping it anyway.
#13
Moderator
Re: The RIAA's not getting much return on its investment
I'm sure they'll recoup these costs by screwing over the artists and consumers a little more. It's always win-win when you're the RIAA!
#14
DVD Talk Legend
Re: The RIAA's not getting much return on its investment
Has anyone read anything about how rising ticket prices correlates to all of this? It seems obvious that lower revenue in media sales would directly lead to increasing other sources of revenue, like raising ticket prices, but maybe I'm missing something.
#16
DVD Talk Hero
Re: The RIAA's not getting much return on its investment
they probably get some if the CD sales don't cover the advances given to musicians. i doubt lady gaga sold enough CD's to cover all the money the record company sunk into her
the reason for the lawsuits is that they have to defend copyrights by law. if they let people pirate music without suing them then they can lose the rights to the music
#17
DVD Talk Hero
Re: The RIAA's not getting much return on its investment
Lady Gaga has sold over 15 million albums and 40 million singles worldwide (according to Wikipedia). I'd say she's probably made her label some money.
#18
DVD Talk Legend
Re: The RIAA's not getting much return on its investment
#19
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Re: The RIAA's not getting much return on its investment
At this point I don't even need to download pirated music to see if I like it, I just turn to YouTube to watch some music videos, or even better, sometimes people post the entire album with a static background.
#20
Re: The RIAA's not getting much return on its investment
What pisses me off is the ton of stuff that's OOP because they aren't big sellers or were never transfer from vinyl to CD. If they produced small quantities and sold them via amazon, like how the various soundtrack licencers do it, that would be awesome.
#22
DVD Talk Legend
Re: The RIAA's not getting much return on its investment
The only music I don't pirate is from bands I absolutely love. Is it wrong? Sure, but so is charging me $16.99 for a catalog release from 1993. $10 is my price point on all CDs, anything higher and it just isn't worth wasting the money. Especially when that voice in the back of my mind keeps reminding me that I could save that money and download the album to see if it's even any good.
#23
DVD Talk Legend
Re: The RIAA's not getting much return on its investment
Do you have a statistic on that because that's hard to believe. On new release Tuesday you might find it for $9.99 but after that it'll shoot up to $13 or so.
I haven't found a CD that's been out for more than a week for under $10 in a long time. Granted the only B&M stores that have a decent music selection is Target and Best Buy. You gotta look for sales but regular sticker price is always more than $10.
I haven't found a CD that's been out for more than a week for under $10 in a long time. Granted the only B&M stores that have a decent music selection is Target and Best Buy. You gotta look for sales but regular sticker price is always more than $10.
#24
Senior Member
Re: The RIAA's not getting much return on its investment
Whilst I do download cd's, I support many bands by going to their shows which is how THEY make their money these days.
I'd say an average of 5-6 concerts a month, and 4-5 music festivals a year.
I'd say an average of 5-6 concerts a month, and 4-5 music festivals a year.
#25
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Re: The RIAA's not getting much return on its investment
I don't know where you can find CDs under $10, but it's certainly true for the digital downloads on Amazon. Anyone who's still using price as an excuse for piracy is lying.