Andre Yoskowitz
14 Jul 2010 13:50
Recording Industry vs The People has posted today that the RIAA lost an incredible amount of money on attorney's fees in 2008, while recovering practically nothing from its lawsuits.
The trade group paid firm Holmes Roberts & Owen $9,364,901, firm Jenner & Block over $7,000,000 and Cravath Swain & Moore about $1.25 million for 2008. Each was in charge of pursuing copyright infringement claims.
Apparently 2008 was a bad year for the RIAA though as they only recovered $391,000 from their suits.
The average settlement for copyright infringement cases is $3500 meaning the RIAA only settled with just over 110 people.
On the other hand, 2008 was an improvement on 2007, when the RIAA spent $21 million on legal fees and an additional $3.5 million to pay watchdog MediaSentry. The group only recovered $516,000 in 2007.
You can view the IRS return here: RIAA recover only $391,000.