While Bush did not commence the embargo, he supposrts and maintains it against all reasoning. If the Vietnam were still going on, yes, I may cal it the buss war. Certainly the Iraq war is a Bush war. I know a few american frined and none of them support the current Bush wars.

“Following this reasoning to its logical end, no one should EVER complain about being ripped off because someone ELSE has been ripped off just as badly, or worse.”

I think you got i backwards. American artists that are ripped by the cartels and others should do something about it. The problem is that besides compaining to each other most artists are simply waiting in the sidelines hoping the problem goes away. Look what has hapenned to composers. External forces have “organized” them but the organization is a front for the cartels.

If anyone knows of a recording artist or songwriter organization that defend the interest of these and has produced uniform results for its membership, just let me know.

“I understand your passion about the embargo of royalties due to Cuban composers. Their plight, however, does nothing to diminish the legitimacy of the problems faced by the artists SoundExchange cannot find.”

And who says that SoundExchange cannot find the artists. What the article says is just the opposite, that SoundExchange does not wanr to find the artists because it it wants to retain the money that belog to the “lost” artists, just like the american publishers do not want to pay the cubans and simply use the embargo as a reason for not paying while refusing to turnover the songs to their would be owners so these can exploit the songs and be paid for it. After all the only country that has an embargo against Cuba is the USA.

“you can address the facts without blowing smoke about the “Bush embargo.”

I understand the pain some Americans feel when things like the embargo agaist Cuba, the Vietnam war, the Iraq war are mentioned and how irrational and quick to forget history some become. Iam not American, but if I were, I would be deeply ashamed of the behavior of some (not all) american politicians and businesses overseas, where there has been a total lack of respect for the sovereignty of the people of Vietnam, Cuba, Iraq, and many other countries.

Within America, that total lack of respect is for artists, songwriters, music fans, and those that are sued for copying music like all our parents and grandparents and judges and politicians have traditionally done.

Yes, everything is interelated.

Said the Spanish-American philosopher George Santayana.
“Those who don’t know history are comdemned to repeat it”.

If more American artists knew and talked about and protested of what is being done to the Cuban songwriter, less of it – not getting paid – would happen to them.

Rafael Venegas
http://www.gvenegas.com

“American music publishers who monopolized the ownership of Cuban songs before the Cuban revolution are now refusing to pay (since about 1960) the songwriters and their heirs royalties because, allegedly, the Bush embargo prohibits payment to Cubans.”

If this non-payment has been in place for 45 years, it is hardly accurate to call it the “Bush embargo,” is it?

You said:

“If the Cuban’s money is skimmed, and American songwriters and artists have not complaned about what their country does to the Cubans, why should they not suffer the same destiny with SoundExchange?”

Following this reasoning to its logical end, no one should EVER complain about being ripped off because someone ELSE has been ripped off just as badly, or worse.

I understand your passion about the embargo of royalties due to Cuban composers. Their plight, however, does nothing to diminish the legitimacy of the problems faced by the artists SoundExchange cannot find. This is not a zero-sum equation. If full immediate reparations to the Cuban composers were made today, it would not change one thing about the SoundExchange situation.

Now, if you really want to talk about the problem of Cuban artists in terms of the SoundExchange situation, you can address the facts without blowing smoke about the “Bush embargo.” There are a number of Cuban artists on the SoundExchange “unfound” list. How can we get them paid like the rest of their peers?

I must, though, imagine that you do not care for my being passionate about the rights of authors and artists, music fans and consumers, and the abuse and disdain of the “rights holders” against these very same group.

Now, will you please prove that you are or are not not a RIAA or music publisher troll, by telling us what do think about the subject at hand, the unpaid artists (and songwriters) who are being routinely ripped off by the various components of the music industry?

Rafael Venegas
http://www.gvenegas,com

Based on the Bush embargo arguments, the publishers retain the money while the songwriters and the heirs die and eventually the debt is forgotten, making th publishers richer and the Cuban poorer.

If the Cuban’s money is skimmed, and American songwriters and artists have not complaned about what their country does to the Cubans, why should they not suffer the same destiny with SoundExchange?

Rafael Venegas
http://www.gvenegas.com