NEWS ITEM: Recording Companies Agree to Pay $50MMay 4, 9:58 AM (ET)
By DEEPTI HAJELA
NEW YORK (AP) - Major recording companies have agreed to return nearly $50 million in unclaimed royalties to Sean Combs, Gloria Estefan, Dolly Parton and thousands of lesser known musicians under a settlement being announced Tuesday.
A two-year investigation by New York state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's office found that many artists were not being paid royalties because record companies lost contact with the performers and had stopped making required payments.
"As a result of this agreement, new procedures will be adopted to ensure that the artists and their descendants will receive the compensation to which they are entitled," Spitzer said in a statement.
The Washington-based Recording Industry Association of America, which represents the companies, planned to comment after the official announcement, said spokesman Jonathan Lamy.
Representatives for Combs and Parton did not immediately return calls for comment. A spokesman for Estefan, reached prior to the announcement, was unaware of the settlement and had no immediate comment.
The participating companies include: SONY Music Entertainment; Sony ATV Music Publishing; Warner Music Group; UMG Recordings; Universal Music; EMI Music Publishing; BMG Songs; Careers-BMG Music Publishing; BMG Music and the Harry Fox Agency.
Under the settlement, the music companies agreed to make good-faith efforts to track down artists to whom royalties are due. If the artists still cannot be located, the money will revert to the state.
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Next time the RIAA threatens to sue 12-year-old schoolgirls and and 70-year-old grandfathers for "illegal downloading," we should remind them of this story. Funny how the artists mentioned here are not only alive, but still in the public eye, yet these major record and publishing companies couldn't "find" them when it came time to figure out where to mail their royalty checks.
These days, when I come down with a case of "spring fever," I get a yearning for...a case of beer.
Not just any beer, mind you, but one in particular: Saxer Lemon Lager.
It is exactly what it says it is. I have tried other "summer brews" that purport to be flavored with lemon, but none of them back it up the way Saxer does. It's light, smooth, tart and slightly sweet. There's none of the "skunk" that comes with cramming a lemon wedge inside a bottle of Corona. And it doesn't have the chemical aftertaste of those godawful "hard lemonades."
One small problem: It's made in Portland, Oregon, and not widely distributed on this side of the country. Luckily, there's a place in North Plainfield, N.J., that routinely stocks it. I drive down there and buy a case in early spring. When it runs out, I repeat the process, until the weather turns cool and my tastebuds start to crave something more full-bodied.
So that's the story: I love this beer.
(Apologies to those who were hoping for something sexier.)
