Sirius Satellite Radio recently reached an agreement with three major labels (Warner Music, Universal Music, and Sony BMG) related to its new S50 portable player, which allows users to digitally copy/record individual songs from the various channels. [However, it's important to mention that the music files aren't portable...]
Anyway, as part of the reported resolution, Sirius has agreed to pay an undisclosed "fee per unit" royalty to Warner and Universal for every S50 sold. Understandably a necessary move on Sirius' part, but I'm confused - how does this benefit the artists? How can you split that royalty up to the hundreds or thousands of songwriters involved? Who will have access to this new pool of money? To be more equitable, shouldn't there be a royalty paid per copy? I mean come on now, make those computers count the bits! We're a little more advanced now than we were with DAT machines...
Anyone else think this is a joke too?
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