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'Never Gonna Give You Up' Songwriter Says Google Exploited Him
Pete Waterman, the songwriter (and apparent cry-baby) behind the Rick Astley hit 'Never Gonna Give You Up,' is claiming that the tiny royalty check he received from Google and YouTube amounts to exploitation.
Now, to be fair, Waterman did only receive £11 (about $16) in royalties last year from Google, despite being the man behind the song that spawned the Internet phenomena known as Rick Rolling. The number might be a tad on the low side, but we'd hardly call it exploitation. PRS for Music (the royalty collection agency that Waterman employs) and Google are working to reach a new licensing agreement, but have yet to strike a deal regarding how royalties should be dolled out for streaming online content.
Waterman, who in 2004 was estimated to be worth £47 million (just shy of $69 million), recently held a press conference in which he compared his plight to that of exploited migrant labor in Dubai.
Look, Mr. Waterman, we understand you might feel like you're getting the shaft here, but let's not be ridiculous. You're a multi-millionaire songwriter, not a construction worker. If you want to argue for higher royalty payments, that's fine, but comparing yourself to exploited day-laborers isn't going to win you any supporters. In fact, it just makes us kind of want to punch you. [From: Telegraph]
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Comments
6
Subscribe to commentsplasalaiApr 11th 2009 6:30PM
his whining makes me want to punch him too....
right in the baby maker
eddieApr 11th 2009 6:45PM
you would think that a person with 69 million dollars could afford to have their teeth whitened...
Plasalai sucksApr 11th 2009 8:39PM
FU Plasalai They fukking screwed him and you know it,this is typical of Google making billions off people but not paying what they owe.They truly are the EVIL empire even though they have so many SHEEPLE fooled. People hate MS ebcause it is the Politcally Correct thing to do but Googles business practices put MS and even Apple to shame and they need it stuck so far up their collective ASSESSSS as do you. I'd like to punch you in the gut. If that was you getting only $16 for them using your stuff millions of times you would be screaming like the little bitch that you are. End of rant lol
IocaneApr 12th 2009 12:15AM
What are you talking about? We don't know what Waterman is entitled to - though it's probably more than a plate of teppanyaki. What probably happened was, the license given by the PRS didn't take pageviews and advertising dollars into account. If that's the case, the Preforming Rights Society screwed up and Google got a cheap contract. They're settling things, and he'll probably get compensated in the end. I believe the guy deserves to profit of the use of his intellectual property but comparing his "strife" to migrant labor in Dubai is something of a tasteless over reaction. So is your comment calling Google evil.
It's not like they're all sitting around a table, cackling, asking each other, "who we going to screw over today?!"
CynthiaApr 11th 2009 10:38PM
OMG... That is hilarious. I kind of want to let all the exploited migrant workers in Dubai punch him. LOL
Can't sleepApr 12th 2009 1:52AM
"In the babymaker" ... OMG that's funny