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Oh please, you know better than that

I don't have a contract with the RIAA/MPAA, so I can't file a suit. However, many have in the past, and most have prevailed. Here's a brief listing:

http://www.forbes.com/markets/newswire/2004/05/04/rtr1358573.html
The world's largest record labels will return $50 million in unpaid royalties to thousands of artists following a two-year probe by the New York State Attorney General's Office

Members of Bob Marley's band sue over nonpayment of royalties:
http://rastafusion.free.fr/fams3.htm

Teena Marie sued Motown for nonpayment of royalties and won:
http://www.angelfire.com/la/dyt/teena.html

Here's a commentary from a lawyer who has been involved in many of these lawsuits:
http://www.mca.org.au/index.php?id=173
Even under these circumstances, there is something remarkable about artist audits of record companies. They always find money due. In the audit reviews I have conducted, and every audit I have ever heard of, there is always money found, and often substantial amounts representing 20% or more of what the artist should have received under the contract. Back when I learned about audits in general, well before I got involved with recording artists, I was told by an experienced accountant that audits were generally intended to prove everyone was living up to their obligations, and that most people did. He said 95% of audits would show that payments made were accurate. In the inaccurate 5%, half would show underpayments and half would show overpayments, and in the great majority of cases, those discrepancies would be for small amounts. In my experience outside the record industry, I found my accountant to be right. Record company audits fly in the face of my experience in the real world and in the face of simple statistical probability. If there is one thing this committee accomplishes, and I hope it is a great deal more, I would hope it would be an answer, under oath, of how it happens that every audit finds money due to the artist. It is one of the great mysteries of this industry and the real-life equivalent of the coin that when flipped, always comes up heads.

That covers the RIAA, now how about the MPAA:

Hollywood is famous for their accounting practices, whereby even the biggest blockbuster of the year can be declared to have failed to make a profit, meaning that royalty payments do not have to be paid. Here's an overview of the accounting practices:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood_accounting

Stan Lee filed and won a lawsuit after the producers of the movie Spider-Man cheated him out of his share of the profits of the movie

The estate of Jim Garrison sued Warner Bros. for their share of the profits from the movie JFK, which was based on Garrison's book On the Trail of the Assassins.

Art Buchwald received a settlement after his lawsuit Buchwald v. Paramount over Paramount's use of Hollywood accounting. The court found Paramount's actions "unconscionable," noting that it was impossible to believe that a movie (1988's Eddie Murphy comedy Coming to America) which grossed US$350 million failed to make a profit, especially since the actual production costs were less than a tenth of that. Paramount settled for an undisclosed sum, rather than have its accounting methods closely scrutinized.

The film My Big Fat Greek Wedding was considered hugely successful for an independent film, yet according to the studio, the film lost money. Accordingly, the cast, with the exception of Nia Vardalos who had a separate deal, sued the studio for their part of the profits. The original producers of the film have also sued Playtone, HBO and Gold Circle Films due to Hollywood accounting practices because the studios have claimed that the film had actually lost $20 million. [4]

Do you need more examples, or are you willing to concede the point.

Posted by: tic swayback   Posted on: 06/11/07 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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