4 ms·

> most of the collected money goes to the board of directors Administrative costs of those societies are somewhere between 5% and 15%. The rest goes to the cre

> most of the collected money goes to the board of directors Administrative costs of those societies are somewhere between 5% and 15%. The rest goes to the creators. > board of directors, of which most only sit in that position as some kind of political retirement plan/favor I just scanned a few biographies and it didn't look like anything out of the ordinary. They are elected by the members of those societies and not appointed by politicians.

freeflight 10y ago
>Administrative costs of those societies are somewhere between 5% and 15%. The rest goes to the creators. That's the theory, in practice many members have to pay in more than they get out because they have to pay fees to GEMA even when playing their own works. >I just scanned a few biographies and it didn't look like anything out of the ordinary. For 17 years the CEO used to be Reinhold Kreile, a CSU politician, and lawyer for copyright. He wasn't the first and he ain't the last, it's part of the political culture in Germany.
- germanier 10y ago
  I'm not claiming everything is perfect with those societies (that would be far from the truth). But both assertions that most of the collected money goes to the board of directors and most of those are there because of a political favor are simply not true even when taken as a hyperbole. > many members have to pay in more than they get out That their payment table needs some work is out of question. However, membership is entirely voluntary. If someone is a member and pays more in than they get out there has to be some other value they get of it or they would not be a member.
  - freeflight 10y ago
    >However, membership is entirely voluntary. Voluntary being a pretty funny word in that regard considering that according to GEMA rules all works are to be under their trust by default, unless proven otherwise. >If someone is a member and pays more in than they get out there has to be some other value they get of it or they would not be a member. Once you are a member and can't publish any of your works, wich you registered with GEMA, under any other licenses, so what good is leaving gonna do anybody when they still lost the rights to publish their own works? Ain't helping that the German patent office has been preventing the legitimization of alternative organizations, putting GEMA in a de facto monopoly position. It's a prime example of overbearing bureaucracy gone totally wrong and as such shouldn't surprise anybody that there've already been over 1800 petitions against GEMA. It's an organization that's supposed to act in the best interest of the artists it's representing, but still tried to fight off the digitalization of the music market until 2007, it's an organization that sends out bills for singings songs to kindergartens and retirement homes. Seriously, take a step back and think about that and tell me this ain't totally absurd.

freeflight 10y ago

>Administrative costs of those societies are somewhere between 5% and 15%. The rest goes to the creators. That's the theory, in practice many members have to pay in more than they get out because they have to pay fees to GEMA even when playing their own works. >I just scanned a few biographies and it didn't look like anything out of the ordinary. For 17 years the CEO used to be Reinhold Kreile, a CSU politician, and lawyer for copyright. He wasn't the first and he ain't the last, it's part of the political culture in Germany.

germanier 10y ago
I'm not claiming everything is perfect with those societies (that would be far from the truth). But both assertions that most of the collected money goes to the board of directors and most of those are there because of a political favor are simply not true even when taken as a hyperbole. > many members have to pay in more than they get out That their payment table needs some work is out of question. However, membership is entirely voluntary. If someone is a member and pays more in than they get out there has to be some other value they get of it or they would not be a member.
- freeflight 10y ago
  >However, membership is entirely voluntary. Voluntary being a pretty funny word in that regard considering that according to GEMA rules all works are to be under their trust by default, unless proven otherwise. >If someone is a member and pays more in than they get out there has to be some other value they get of it or they would not be a member. Once you are a member and can't publish any of your works, wich you registered with GEMA, under any other licenses, so what good is leaving gonna do anybody when they still lost the rights to publish their own works? Ain't helping that the German patent office has been preventing the legitimization of alternative organizations, putting GEMA in a de facto monopoly position. It's a prime example of overbearing bureaucracy gone totally wrong and as such shouldn't surprise anybody that there've already been over 1800 petitions against GEMA. It's an organization that's supposed to act in the best interest of the artists it's representing, but still tried to fight off the digitalization of the music market until 2007, it's an organization that sends out bills for singings songs to kindergartens and retirement homes. Seriously, take a step back and think about that and tell me this ain't totally absurd.