Slashdot has been calling them the MAFIAA. I can see why.

[jackofallgeeks]

Pardon my French but: Holy Fuck, who does the RIAA think they are!?

'SoundExchange (the RIAA) considers any digital performance of a song as falling under their compulsory license. If any artist records a song, SoundExchange has the right to collect royalties for its performance on Internet radio. Artists can offer to download their music for free, but they cannot offer their songs to Internet radio for free. (http://soundexchange.com/faq.html#a7) ...

So how it works is that SoundExchange collects money through compulsory royalties from Webcasters and holds onto the money. If a label or artist wants their share of the money, they must become a member of SoundExchange and pay a fee to collect their royalties (http://soundexchange.com/faq.html#b6). But, and this is a big "but," you only get royalties if you own the sound recording copyright. If you are signed to a major label, chances are you don’t. Even if you do own the copyright to your own recording of your own song, SoundExchange will collect Internet radio royalties for your song even if you don’t want them to do so.'

Comments

[otakulk.livejournal.com]

Creative Commons will rule the world eventually!!!

Actually this is a huge problem, my favorite internet radio station (the eurodance stream on di.fm) is gonna shut down in a few weeks cause royalty prices are increasing. *note the badge on my website*