The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is facing the possibility of legal action from artists who claim to have received no money from the settlement of peer-to-peer cases.

The RIAA has negotiated settlements worth hundreds of millions of dollars from YouTube, Napster, Kazaa and others, but the artists whom the organisation has been so litigiously defending say that they have not seen a cent.

"Artist managers and lawyers have been wondering for months when their artists will see money from the copyright settlements and how it will be accounted for," John Branca, a lawyer who has represented Korn, Don Henley and The Rolling Stones, told the New York Post.

"Some of them are even talking about filing lawsuits if they don't get paid soon."

The record companies have protested that some payments have been made and that they are working out the best way to pass the money onto artists.

However, it has been years since some settlements and artists, and their managers, are getting concerned.

"They will play hide and seek, but eventually will be forced to pay something," Irving Azoff, talent manager for The Eagles told the paper.

"The record companies have even tried to credit unrecouped accounts. It's never easy for an artist to get paid their fair share."