RIAA news stories on Newser

US Cuts Off Funding to UNESCO Over Palestine

Kevin Spak — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 14:26:31 CDT

The US has officially cut off all funding to the UN’s Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization over its acceptance of Palestine as a full member. The impact will be felt immediately, because the US had a $60 million dues payment due in November, the AP reports. The Obama administration’s hands...

2 Live Crew Didn't Make Kagan 'So Horny'

Nick McMaster — Fri, 21 May 2010 15:55:00 CDT

The search through Elena Kagan's work history has yielded an amusing nugget: She went to bat for notoriously sexual rap group 2 Live Crew. In a 1990 brief for the RIAA when she was an associate at a DC law firm, Kagan argued As Nasty as They Wanna Be "does...

Tech Losers of the '00s

Kevin Spak — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 14:13:02 CST

It’s been an amazing decade for technology, but not everyone came out ahead. CrunchGear considers the big losers of the '00s, starting with the biggest: Brick and mortar retailers. Once consumers learned to trust online merchants, lots of stores—we’re looking at you Circuit City and CompUSA—went the way...

To Save the Music Industry, Ban Music—and Whistling

Rob Quinn — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 09:38:56 CDT

The music industry wants royalties for the 30-second previews on iTunes—which is "bullshit," writes Nicholas DeLeon for TechGear. It's yet another foolish move in the battle to save the music industry, complains DeLeon. Luckily, he has a "foolproof" way to do just that: Ban music, "shut the whole damn...

Minnesota Mom Fined $1.9M for Illegal Music Downloads

Rob Quinn — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 04:12:34 CDT

A Minnesota woman has been fined $80,000 per song for each of 24 music files she illegally downloaded, CNN reports. The court ordered Jammie Thomas to pay $1.92 million to the Recording Industry of America. Her original trial—America's first for music file-sharing—granted the RIAA just $220,...

Fading Radio, Recording Outfits Clash Over Royalties

Harry Kimball — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 17:50:36 CDT

The recording industry and radio-station owners are clashing in Washington over the issue of royalties, Bloomberg reports. Both sides have spent tens of millions on lobbying, and contributed to the campaigns of legislators of both parties. At present, radio stations pay royalties to songwriters and publishers, not artists. “This issue...

95% of Music Downloads Illegal: Industry

Harry Kimball — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 15:06:25 CST

Nearly all—95%—of music downloads globally are illegal, at least according to the industry, Techdirt reports. The numbers come from the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry and indicate that even a 25% increase in online music purchases last year couldn’t overcome the effects of piracy. According to the...

Music Industry to Dump Download Lawsuits

Clay Dillow — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 09:56:01 CST

After five years of suing everyone from single mothers to teenage girls for illegally sharing music files, the recording industry is dropping the legal campaign that has ensnared 35,000 individuals, the Wall Street Journal reports. Instead, an industry group is making deals with Internet-service providers to warn those sharing...

Woman May Get New Trial in File-Sharing Conviction

Rob Quinn — Fri, 16 May 2008 10:55:03 CDT

The judge who presided over America's first music file-sharing trial might call for a do-over, the AP reports. A Minnesota mom was penalized $222,000 for illegal dowloads last fall, but the judge has since discovered that he may have issued faulty jury instructions. That's because a 1993 ruling said...