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Follow us on FacebookRIAA Spent $64M to Win $1.4M From Pirates Between '06 and '08
@ 2010/07/14In the infamous Recording Industry Association of America's (RIAA) 2008 IRS tax filing, the organization revealed the stunning financial futility of its battle against piracy. The document[PDF], obtained by P2PNet, reads like a lawyer's dream and like a financial officer's worst nightmare.
At the end of the day, RIAA paid Holmes Roberts & Owen $9,364,901 in 2008, Jenner & Block more than $7,000,000, and Cravath Swain & Moore $1.25 million to pursue claims against music pirates. That's a total of over $17.6M USD. And there were more law firms listed -- those were just the top three fees.
In return, it received a mere $391,000 USD in compensation from its pirate victims. In other words -- the RIAA spent over 45 times on lawsuits and threats than what it received in return.
At the end of the day, RIAA paid Holmes Roberts & Owen $9,364,901 in 2008, Jenner & Block more than $7,000,000, and Cravath Swain & Moore $1.25 million to pursue claims against music pirates. That's a total of over $17.6M USD. And there were more law firms listed -- those were just the top three fees.
In return, it received a mere $391,000 USD in compensation from its pirate victims. In other words -- the RIAA spent over 45 times on lawsuits and threats than what it received in return.
