Artists Threaten RIAA Lawsuits

Artists say that the RIAA hasn’t been disbursing money from settlements in peer-to-peer cases.

The Recording Industry Association of America, which represents record companies, has been quick to go after various peer-to-peer networks and even individuals theysay have illegally downloaded copyrighted recordings. But, according to a story in the New York Post, artists are complaining that they’ve yet to see any ofthat money, even though some of the settlements are now a few years old.   Artist lawyer John Branca told the paper,   “Artist managers and lawyers have been wondering for months whentheir artists will see money from the copyright settlements and how it will be accounted for. Some of them are even talking about filing lawsuits if they don’t get paid soon."   For theirpart, the record companies insist that some money has been paid and that they’re trying to establish the best way to pay artists.