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By David Rothman

image “Even as media conglomerates struggle to stabilize finances by cutting costs and retrenching, their CEOs remain a well compensated group—averaging $27 million in cash payments last year while equity values plummeted as much as 70 percent.” – BNET Media.

Example: “Time Warner, which ties compensation to adjusted EBITDA growth and free cash flow, handed [CEO Jeffrey L. Bewkes, shown in photo] a 13.3 percent gain in cash  compensation to $9.4 million. The company’s stock declined 38 percent in 2008.”

The copyright angle: Simply by adjusting CEO compensation formulas, maybe media companies could worry just a little less about their wars against fair use. Meanwhile it would be fun to find out what the exec pay pattern has been among AP board members, given the news organization’s copyright zealotry. More positively, kudos to the New York Times General Counsel Ken Richieri for understanding that fair use can be A Good Thing for newspapers.

 
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