[nate_meurer]

Any illusions that artists had about the big record labels should have been extinguished in 1999, when they snuck through a bit of legislation that made all music recordings "works for hire", thus depriving musicians of the copyrights on their own music.

"work for hire" is what programmers do in the employ of a company, who then assumes ownership of the copyright on the code. The RIAA has always resented the fact that musicians retain ownership of their copyrights, and it defended the legislation vigorously. It was repealed in 2000 under pressure from a coalition of musicians.

The most offensive thing about the episode to me is the way it was done. A congressional staffer named Mitch Glazier snuck the change in at the last minute. Three months later, Mitch was hired by the RIAA. Afterwards, the RIAA coyly refused to admit anything had changed, but were plainly committed to enforcing the work-for-hire language.