The dispute in this case is not that revenue was not payable, but rather what that amount would be proving to be the sticking point.
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080501-judge-big-webcasters-owe-songwriters-millions-in-royalties.htmlA federal judge has just set the rate to be paid for a blanket music license by Yahoo, AOL, and RealNetworks. The three companies could owe songwriters as much as $100 million over seven years as payment for streaming their songs on the web. As the Rolling Stones once noted, "You can't always get what you want," but the songwriters seem to done have all right for themselves this time around.
The decision is particularly significant because it is retroactive, covering a period that goes all the way back to July 1, 2002 (and will continue through the end of 2009). In a statement praising the decision, ASCAP noted that this could mean a $100 million payout from the three companies across all seven years of the blanket licensing. If anyone continues to think that webcasting is still a niche business with no revenues, this ruling should show just how much money exists in the current market.
The recording artists and the writers who pen their hit songs deserve their cash, and looking at this decision many have been waiting 5 or 6 years to obtain that revenue, given that also RIAA founded company SoundExchange's lack luster efforts to pay the artists their royalties and the wonder is why more artists and song writers are not up in arms over being treated so poorly.
