MPAA Joins RIAA In Having Budgets Slashed

from the obsolete-organizations-die-off dept

Mon, Aug 27th 2012 10:44am — Mike Masnick

Following the news that the RIAA's revenue was cut dramatically in the past few years, TorrentFreak has also posted the MPAA's 2010 tax filing, showing that it, too, has taken a pretty massive beating in terms of revenue from its gatekeeper members.

In just three years the revenue generated by the anti-piracy outfit reduced from $92.8 million to $49.6 million. The decreased budget is a direct result of the major Hollywood studios cutting back on their MPAA funding. In the same period membership dues dropped from $84.7 million to $41.5 million, more than a 50% decline.

The filing (embedded below) includes some interesting tidbits. It's not at all surprising to see that the MPAA funds the Copyright Alliance, but I had not seen before that it funds ITIF. ITIF was the think tank who was the major "intellectual backer" of SOPA/PIPA. They had published the first paper that more or less suggested the approach found in SOPA/PIPA, and when the MPAA was absolutely desperate for technology "experts" who could argue that SOPA wouldn't break DNS, the only people they rolled out were ITIF staff members. It's not surprising that the MPAA funded them, but I don't recall that being disclosed anywhere previously.

Also, as with the RIAA's salaries, it's pretty ridiculous to see the MPAA complaining about being rich as proof that someone must be breaking the law, when its top execs are all making pretty large salaries. Nearly every person listed in their list of key employees/highest compensated employees is clearly way far north into the 1% of most highly compensated Americans.

And all that while its budget keeps getting slashed. Perhaps the studios are recognizing that they're better off no longer throwing good money after bad. Of course, it's noteworthy that a number of people on the list ended up leaving the MPAA. Former CEO Dan Glickman left earlier than expected, apparently due to dissatisfaction from the studio heads, and a number of others left as well. So it will be interesting when the 2011 report finally comes out to see if they studios fed money back into the MPAA once Chris Dodd was brought in.

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Filed Under: budgets, failures, funding
Companies: copyright alliance, itif, mpaa, riaa

41 Comments

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Chronno S. Trigger (profile), 27 Aug 2012 @ 11:08am

I think it's impressive that the MPAA is still going as strong as it is. If I worked for 10 years and had absolutely nothing to show for it, my ass would be fired.
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Beech, 27 Aug 2012 @ 11:10am

Trust the mpaa's tax filings?
So, we're going to trust that the mpaa's tax filings are devoid of "Hollywood math"? it could just as easily be the case that the mpaa is getting more money, but calling it something else to dodge taxes.
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fogbugzd (profile), 27 Aug 2012 @ 11:11am

This is indeed a serious problem. If both the MPAA and RIAA are slashing budgets, where are former members of Congress and senior Congressional staffers supposed to go after they leave Washington? This is a disaster because a staffer will no longer be able to guarantee themselves a six or seven digit retirement salary by slipping an industry-favored provision into a bill. And then there is the Executive branch, where darn near every senior aid has been doing favors right and left for the MPAA in hopes of post-White House employment. Was it all for nothing? Will this end "In our Sights" type of operations forever? Oh, the humanity!
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sehlat (profile), 27 Aug 2012 @ 11:12am

I doubt the studios have learned their lessons.
Otherwise they might have figured out that stomping your customers into the dirt to feed your wallet is a poor business model, and wouldn't be pushing TPP, which is SOPA on H. G. Wells' boomfood.
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Phuch M. Awl, 27 Aug 2012 @ 11:14am

The revenue is disappearing like a wicked witch in a downpour.
Bellowing PIRACY at the top the lungs has just been one of the few rewarding mafiaa business models (in a business long devoid of any demonstrable worth and long based primarily on lying and extortion tactics).

The "Boys Who Cried Wolf" business model will be dropped as soon as it falls on enough deaf ears.
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Anonymous Coward, 27 Aug 2012 @ 11:15am

"And all that while its budget keeps getting slashed. Perhaps the studios are recognizing that they're better off no longer throwing good money after bad."

Have you considered the remarkably much more logical concept that there are only a few major players left now, the music industry isn't structured as it was before. With more than 58% of the revenue disappearing over 10 years, you would think that, yeah, they might cut back a bit.

Just imagine what they are doing to budgets for new band investments. With piracy, your reap what you sow.
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Anonymous Coward, 27 Aug 2012 @ 11:17am

Re:
"With more than 58% of the revenue disappearing over 10 years"

I'd like to see a citation for this number. Last I checked, profits were going way up, not down.
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Anonymous Coward, 27 Aug 2012 @ 11:23am

How much do Google and friends pay you, Masnick?
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Chronno S. Trigger (profile), 27 Aug 2012 @ 11:24am

Re: The revenue is disappearing like a wicked witch in a downpour.
"Bellowing PIRACY at the top the lungs has just been one of the few rewarding mafiaa business models"

Resistance is useless.
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Mike Masnick (profile), 27 Aug 2012 @ 11:24am

Re:
Have you considered the remarkably much more logical concept that there are only a few major players left now, the music industry isn't structured as it was before. With more than 58% of the revenue disappearing over 10 years, you would think that, yeah, they might cut back a bit.

The MPAA represents the movie studios, not the record labels. And the major movie studios have not merged like the record labels, nor has 58% of the revenue disappeared.

Look, it helps to actually read even the headline before trolling.
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Anonymous Coward, 27 Aug 2012 @ 11:27am

Re:
Probably more than the MPAA/RIAA pay you.
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John Fenderson (profile), 27 Aug 2012 @ 11:27am

Re:
Have you considered the remarkably much more logical concept that there are only a few major players left now, the music industry isn't structured as it was before.

Yep. And that's a good thing.

But now we know what they mean when they are constantly coming up with the baffling idea that "music is dying". They mean that they're dying, and they seem to believe that they represent the entire music business.
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Anonymous Coward, 27 Aug 2012 @ 11:30am

If only it could happen faster.
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Anonymous Coward, 27 Aug 2012 @ 11:35am

Re:
I don't know, if the movie studios have enough spare money to spend on moving into the music industry, I'd say they're doing fine.
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Anonymous Coward, 27 Aug 2012 @ 11:42am

Buggy Whips

Having an increasingly larger share of a collapsing pie.

If this were a normal corporation the share holders would be handing the officers their collective heads.

Let The Free Market Rule.
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Lowestofthekeys (profile), 27 Aug 2012 @ 11:45am

Re:
You'd think after a while they'd figure out that what they were doing was not practical in the long-term.
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Lowestofthekeys (profile), 27 Aug 2012 @ 11:47am

Re:
http://www.zeropaid.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/mpaa.png

wut
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Chilly8, 27 Aug 2012 @ 11:47am

It is any wonder they are pushing hard for TPP? I guess they are bound determined to make sure copyrights last long after MPAA and RIAA are gone.
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Anonymous Coward, 27 Aug 2012 @ 11:52am

Re:
Just imagine what they are doing to budgets for new band investments. With piracy, your reap what you sow.

I've noticed many of these counter arguments essentially start with "just imagine." Yours actually uses it verbatim. Nice.
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Anonymous Coward, 27 Aug 2012 @ 11:56am

Re: Re:
FTFY...

You'd think after a while the public would figure out that what they were doing was not practical in the long-term.

They already KNOW this... why do you think they are fighting so hard to maintain their GATE when the fence has already been torn down and the public is flooding past their 'closed' gate with them stammering, "But, but... piracy!".
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Anonymous Coward, 27 Aug 2012 @ 12:05pm

Re: Re:
"Delusion of grandure" is a pretty serious symptom. Maybe the big labels should seek out medical help, now that companies are people?
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The Groove Tiger (profile), 27 Aug 2012 @ 12:24pm

Re:
Google pays me in cocoa beans.
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gorehound (profile), 27 Aug 2012 @ 12:44pm

The Day both of those Corrupt Slimeball Organizations die I will go out and buy a bottle of expensive champagne.
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monkyyy, 27 Aug 2012 @ 1:01pm

Re: Trust the mpaa's tax filings?
i agree but the budget slashing says otherwise
empires dont spend decreasing amounts on war, till the end is near
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monkyyy, 27 Aug 2012 @ 1:05pm

Re:
i predict 2 years till they are a weaker force then the public
in congress

empires fall quickly once there size decreases at all
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Ed C., 27 Aug 2012 @ 1:24pm

Re:
Well, execs have to look out for their own retirement pensions too. They'll keep collecting money from their company's copyright holdings long after it stops publishing anything, while the ones who did all of the work get hung out to dry.
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Ed C., 27 Aug 2012 @ 1:28pm

Re:
I'll join you. That day will be like New Years, but unlike some arbitrary date, it'll be something worth celebrating every year.
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harbingerofdoom (profile), 27 Aug 2012 @ 1:32pm

Re:
oddly it appears that the salary budgets where were the main reductions were... does not appear that the amount spent on politicians was decreased much (if at all)
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harbingerofdoom (profile), 27 Aug 2012 @ 1:32pm

Re: Re:
but then again... maybe thats really not so odd.
they are both nothing more than bribe machines. do you really need that much staff for bribes?
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Anonymous Coward, 27 Aug 2012 @ 2:02pm

Re: Re: The revenue is disappearing like a wicked witch in a downpour.
Time to go after those damn pirated MPAA memberships - there is simply no other reason for those kinds of losses!
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Anonymous Coward, 27 Aug 2012 @ 2:08pm

Re: Re: Re:
They already KNOW this... why do you think they are fighting so hard to maintain their GATE when the fence has already been torn down and the public is flooding past their 'closed' gate with them stammering, "But, but... piracy!".

To which the public answers "But, but... Get the fuck out of the way!" and run them over.
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SujaOfJauhnral (profile), 27 Aug 2012 @ 2:09pm

Re: Re: Re: Re:
Dammit forgot to sign in.

They already KNOW this... why do you think they are fighting so hard to maintain their GATE when the fence has already been torn down and the public is flooding past their 'closed' gate with them stammering, "But, but... piracy!".blockquote>

To which the public answers "But, but... Get the fuck out of the way!" and run them over.
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SujaOfJauhnral (profile), 27 Aug 2012 @ 2:15pm

Re:
The day they die I will go and pirate every single movie/song they've ever registered and upload them all to YouTube.

Dead organizations can't issue takedowns, can they?
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Anonymous Coward, 27 Aug 2012 @ 2:26pm

Re:
We should make it a worldwide event. I know I don't want to get left out of the celebrations!
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DannyB (profile), 27 Aug 2012 @ 2:26pm

Re: Re:
Ah, but the same amount spent on bribery, er... um, lobbying, may not be as effective if the promise of a post-government cushy job doesn't look like it will exist.

In fact, the ones being bribed may suddenly realize that if what they do for that bribe money backfires, they might *suddenly* find themselves in need of a cushy post-government job that no longer exists.
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DannyB (profile), 27 Aug 2012 @ 2:34pm

Re: Re:
To be fair, he might have read the headline.

He may simply not know the difference between the RIAA and MPAA.

Another theory is he may be simply lamenting the fact that the poor RIAA had its budget slashed, awwwwwwwh, boo hoo. Maybe it even affected him personally, and so this article touched a nerve and hence the "cut back a bit" lament.

But the "new band investments" line was good for a laugh. He hasn't heard: new bands end up in indentured servitude debt to the label.
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Anonymous Coward, 27 Aug 2012 @ 2:35pm

They've gotten someone else to pay.
They don't need to spend as much anymore. Government budgets are setting aside more for anti-piracy efforts. The budget hasn't shrunk, it's just paid by the taxpayers now.
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ltlw0lf (profile), 27 Aug 2012 @ 4:01pm

Re: Re:
Google pays me in cocoa beans.

I wish I got that. All I get from them is free services in exchange for ads. And they keep killing off the free services that I like using the most.
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That One Guy (profile), 27 Aug 2012 @ 4:15pm

Re: They've gotten someone else to pay.
Have a 'sad but true' vote.
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I would download a car., 27 Aug 2012 @ 8:43pm

Re:
In relation to new band investments, you only need to look at some of the so called "talent" making music for your answer. Nicki minag comes to mind.....
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Hephaestus (profile), 28 Aug 2012 @ 2:02am

Re: Re: Re:
I do not get it either. If it were "Oracle pays me in Coffee Beans" it would be funny ... Java and all.
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