Co-writer of ‘Rick Roll’ song compares not being compensated by YouTube to exploitation of worker in the Middle East
CrunchGear — ... Waterman, whose fortune was estimated at £47 million by The Times in 2004, compared this treatment to the “exploitation” of migrant workers in the Middle East. Yes, a man is comparing legitimate plight to his not being properly compensated for all those “ ...

Co-writer of ‘Rick Roll’ song compares not being compensated by YouTube to exploitation of workers in the Middle East
CrunchGear — ... Waterman, whose fortune was estimated at £47 million by The Times in 2004, compared this treatment to the “exploitation” of migrant workers in the Middle East. Yes, a man is comparing legitimate plight to his not being properly compensated for all those “ ...

Songwriter Claims He Was Exploited By Google... But A Few Seconds Of Logical Thinking Disproves That
Techdirt — A bunch of folks have sent in the latest PR attempt by some musicians in the recording industry to force Google to pay unsustainable rates to keep their music on YouTube. Pete Waterman, who apparently co-wrote the Rick Asterly "Rick Roll" song Never Gonna Give You Up has come out saying that Google "exploited" him, because he earned a grand total of £11 last year, even while the video was a hit on YouTube. ...

"Never Gonna Give You Up" Songwriter Paid Only $16 by Youtube [Rickrolling]
Gizmodo — ... I do from YouTube." Waterman distressingly compares his plight to that of the unpaid workers in Dubai, which is insane, but he brings up a very valid point. YouTube is awfully profitable: Shouldn't the creators of their content be equitably paid? YouTube insists they are working with PRS for Music, an organization dedicated to seeking fair compensation for artists, but that's of no use to Waterman. Oh, I almost forgot: click this link it's so great! [The Telegraph] ...

“Never Gonna Give You Up” Songwriter Pete Waterman Paid Merely $16 From YouTube
Pulse2 - Technology News And Reviews — ... my publisher and they said ‘You’ll be all right’, until I saw the royalty statement. £11. If 154 million plays means £11, I get more from Radio Stoke playing Never Gonna Give You Up than I do from YouTube.” Waterman’s fortune itself is worth about £47 million ($68 million). Waterman compared the royalties paid as foreign workers in Dubai. He made less on YouTube and Google than these foreign workers did from the Bahrain government. [via Telegraph] ...

Is YouTube ripping off music creators?
Techradar - All the latest technology news — ... Even that massive amount of airtime for Rick Astley's Never Gonna Give You Up, among others, netted Waterman just £11 in royalty payments. He initially brought the derisory sum up at a press conference for the launch of a campaign for fair payments from YouTube. ...

'RickRoll' Songwriter Only Made $16 from YouTube
Maximum PC all RSS Feed — ... "There was I sitting at Christmas thinking, 'I must have made a few bob this year with the old Rickrolling'," Waterman said at a press conference to mark the launch of a website campaigning for a fairer deal for songwriters whose music is featured on YouTube. "I rang my publisher and they said 'You'll be all right,' until I saw the royalty statement. £11. If 154 million plays means £11, I get more from Radio Stoke playing Never Gonna Give You Up than I do from YouTube." ...

Should YouTube pay more? 154 million Rickrolls = £11
Ars Technica — ... —but that he had received a grand total of £11. Pete Waterman claimed that he made more cash from local radio stations in the UK than he did from YouTube, then compared the situation to migrant workers in the Middle East. "I feel like one of those workers," he said, "because I earned less for a year's work off Google or YouTube than they did off the Bahrain government." ...

Opinion: No one feels sorry for you Mr Music Producer
Techradar - All the latest technology news — ... Pete Waterman feels exploited. He received a royalty cheque for just eleven quid from Google for use of Never Gonna Give You Up on YouTube last year. The video had 154 million views from rickrolling victims and he has complained that this is a derisory fee. ...

Google's Hairy Mainstream Pickle
WebProNews Feed — ... The royalties the song’s creators received from that sudden revival? About 16 bucks. The pittance they received was legal thanks to a licensing deal Google struck with the record company, a licensing deal ...

Vid-Biz: Rickrolled, Lost, Domino’s [NewTeeVee]
GigaOM Network — ... Rickrolling Nets “Never Gonna Give You Up” Co-Writer £11; despite being viewed 154 million times, Pete Waterman says he received the paltry sum from YouTube. He’s now started a campaign for fairer deals for songwriters whose work shows up on the video-sharing site. (Telegraph) ...

Vid-Biz: Rickrolled, Lost, Domino’s
NewTeeVee — ... Rickrolling Nets “Never Gonna Give You Up” Co-Writer £11; despite being viewed 154 million times, Pete Waterman says he received the paltry sum from YouTube. He’s now started a campaign for fairer deals for songwriters whose work shows up on the video-sharing site. (Telegraph) ...