Record Labels May Have to Pay Double Royalties

douglips writes "News.com.com.com brings us this article explaining how record labels may be bitten by CD copy protection. At issue is the mechanism that places duplicate WMA tracks on the CD. The labels are thus selling two copies of each song, and may be required to pay twice as much to music publishers. So not only is the DRM ineffective, it also could be a huge legal liability for labels."

Comments

Let me quote Nelson Muntz,

[IvyMike]

Ha-Ha!

Re:Let me quote Nelson Muntz,

[Anonymous Coward]

Ahh Nelson, always the voice of reason when compared to the ??AA

let me be the first to say...

[wo1verin3]

(or maybe second)

That wow, that sucks eh? Having to pay more to ship your product? Poor little labels.... spending money to infringe on customers fair use rights didn't work out for you? *light punch in arm* Aw com'on slugger, it'll be okay.

two for the price of one?

[Matey-O]

The labels are thus selling two copies of each song, and may be required to pay twice as much to music publishers.

Only if the people involved are idiots...oh...nevermind.

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Costs to Consumers

[Alternate Interior]

If the labels pay 2x, does that mean the costs of CDs will be going back up?

Re:Costs to Consumers

[sTalking_Goat]

does that mean the costs of CDs will be going back up?

I wasn't aware that they had ever gone down.

Re:Canadian Artists

[Anonymous Coward]

You're not too bright are you?

THAT'S OK!!

[Anonymous Coward]

They can just pass the cost on to the consumer. Problem solved!

Re:The little guy gets paid?

[lucabrasi999]

I wonder if this means the lyrics writers and all the other "little people" behind the scenes will get paid twice

Are you insinuating that the "little people" in the record business don't get paid their fare share? That the lawyers and record executives, have, for decades, kept all the money themselves and screwed over the songwriters? That record companies are huge, bloated bureacracies that add little value to the creative process? That....

OK, you sold me.

Poetic Justice

[KingDaddy'O]

REAP WHAT YOU SOW... INSTANT KHARMA... CHICKENS COME HOME TO ROOST...
OK enough already. I guess I just want to say, that this is the kind of news that puts a BIG ol' grin on my face. Don't get me wrong - I don't believe in stealing copyrighted material and screwing the artist (besides, as most of us know, the record companies already do a fine job in this respect).
It's just nice to see occasionally, that bullshit legislation can blow-up in the face of the almighty lobbylists and greed mongers.
Let's pray that this is the final straw that boots the record inductry off the cliff, and maybe even takes along the RIAA!!

Re:Lame

[Anonymous Coward]

make an mp6?

No...

[Anonymous Coward]

But two limes can make a margarita. How 'bout we all just chill out and have a drink?

Indeed! (and do pass the butter)

[tmoertel]

JoeLinux wrote:

RIAA is hung by their own batard . . .

Yes, so it would seem. First, they baked it, and then they hung themselves by it. Quite sad, really, as it is rather tasty: After all, if you're going to hang yourself from a loaf of crusty, delicious bread, you ought to at least have a taste before meeting your untimely demise.

This is so unfair!

[rjelks]

How can the labels stay in business if they have to pay double royalties to the greedy artists. The artists are already getting a fat $0.50 for every $17.00 CD sold. First the record companies lost billions in sales to the evil pirates and now DRM is going to cost them more profits. Will the RIAA be able to afford their paratroopers now? What will this do to their lawsuits. This is a travesty of justice! Why oh why won't someone think of the children? - p.s. - HaHA! - nelson -

Re:A silly proposition

[Anonymous Coward]

i expect the best new county from metallica, a country band that's in denial (keeps calling its self metal)
oh, and i expect a well funded bunch of lawers too.

Hmmm

[Kadagan AU]

If you're buying two copies, but only using one, doesn't that mean you have one to give away via an file sharing network? I mean, I rip all my CDs and use only one mp3 copy. So I've got a spare copy that I can give away, right?

Room for error

[Shazow]

Heh they charge a LOT more than 40 cents, my friend. ;)

- shazow

technology fails us

[prockcore]

If only there was a way for the computer to read the audio data on the cd. Then they wouldn't have to include both the audio data and the wmas for computer users.

Then if the user wanted WMAs, he could somehow "rip" this audio data into any format he wanted.

Too bad this technology eludes us.

Re:The little guy gets paid?

[Anonymous Coward]

Artists : Since only half of the 2 billion tracks you distributed were authorized we are suing you under DMCA for $150,000 per track. That'll be 150 trillion
dollars please.

RIAA : Whaaaaaaa?

Re:Let me quote Ross Perot

[ejaw5]

int cent = 1;
double double_cent = new double(cent);

System.out.println(double_cent);

Uh....I think it comes out to:
1.00000000000000000 cent