NAPSTER NOT THE ONLY THING
ON RIAA’S PLATE

While the Recording Industry Association of America may be in the midst of a heated legal battle with Napster over the unauthorized downloading of songs on the Internet, the industry trade group is forming a pool to collect royalties from Webcasters who stream music online.

But the proposed collective by the RIAA is causing discord in the online world regarding concerns that the powerful lobbying body may wield too much control over royalty payments, sources told Reuters Wednesday (10/4).

"I don't think the RIAA will be unopposed," said Jonathan Potter, executive director for the Digital Media Association, an alliance of digital media firms. "Quite a few artists and Webcasters are not comfortable with the RIAA being the administrators, collectors and distributors of Webcaster royalties,''

The RIAA is expected to announce the collective Oct. 11, Reuters reports.

The U.S. Copyright Office is ultimately responsible for selecting an agent to distribute the royalties, and some groups have discussed challenges to the RIAA-organized collective at an upcoming Copyright Office meeting, sources said.