Writers Paradise

                         The recent passing of Aretha Franklin has highlighted the issue that artists, whether they are musicians, visual artists or writers, truly get no R-E-S-P-E-C-T in terms of statutory royalties due under the copyright laws. When Ms. Franklin died in August, her cry of empowerment, “ RESPECT ”, had been played over seven millions times on American radio stations, and she’d never received a penny for any of these performances. That’s because under the copyright law, only writers and publishers of musical compositions, in this case, Otis Redding, are entitled to receive royalties.            One major impediment to receiving compensation is that the copyright law has been weak in keeping pace with technology. In the 1990s, Congress passed a bill to allow performing artists to collect royalties from internet and satellite radio, but songs recorded before 1972 were exempt. In 2014, the “Respect Act” (Respecting Senior Performers as Essential Cultural Trea