August 10, 2000
New York, NY -- After nearly a year of dispute between artists and labels, the Recording Industry Association of America announced on Wednesday that an agreement was reached with the Artists Coalition, the Music Managers Forum, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, and other organizations representing the artist community on the "work for hire" issue.
Last November an amendment to the copyright law was added to an unrelated Satellite Home Viewer Improvement Act explicitly making sound recordings a category of copyrighted material that can be considered a "work made for hire." The amendment essentially ensured that copyrights belonged to the record label and not the artist. The recording industry argued that the amendment protected artists from any contributor to a recording laying claim to the copyright for a particular song.
On a statement on the RIAA Web site, President and CEO Hilary Rosen said, "The book needs to be closed on this issue so we can get back to a united industry on so many important challenges of the day. The resolution is a good one." Artists like Don Henley and Sheryl Crow, who spoke out against the amendment, also expressed relief at its resolution. "This shows what artists can do if we are willing to stand together to protect our interests," Don Henley added.
The RIAA and the artist community will make a joint recommendation to Congress to repeal the amendment.
Written by CHRISTINA SARACENO for RollingStone.com News
