So I feel I must discuss something that is a plague on the art of music more than anything else it has ever faced. The very core of the way we are fed our music today has become nothing more than a scam. A way to take your money, either by sales or by force of lawsuit. I came across an article today from the Washington post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/28/AR2007122800693.html
The RIAA has decided ripping music from our purchased cds is illegal, after years of saying it’s ok to do that as long as we buy a copy of the cd we are ripping to change formats.
What can we do about this? How can we take back the music and get it out of the hands of the corporate greed mongers? I say we call for an all out boycott of anything involving the RIAA.
The artists have to know that we are not against them, just the industry that represents them. I want to hear great music, and I want to hear new artists that are talented, but when you sue all of the potential customers, what hope does that give of those groups succeeding. I feel saddened for all of the musicians out there with raw talent and ability that are going to never get a chance to show it to the world because the RIAA tactics cause less bands to be signed, with less pay for the ones that are because most of the music is now made by a single person through electronic loops. The music is fading, and unless we do something about it soon, we can expect the art form to dissipate until the desire is gone.
We need a change. We need to stop buying RIAA backed albums. We need to endorse our favorite artists by seeing them live, or telling them you would rather pay them directly for their music than pay the industry. Web radio is in a fight for its life because of the RIAA, and that is the future of great independent music. The movie industry realized this when they said TiVo was acceptable, and I have not heard of any cases of them suing people for making copies of their movies.
As in the time of prohibition for our grand relatives before us, we need to take a stand, not to get the industry to change it’s mind, because that is futile. The way to their pocketbooks is through a change in the horribly outdated copyright laws in this country
Canada already has a law in place stating “the act of reproducing all or any substantial part of (a) a musical work embodied in a sound recording, (b) a performer's performance of a musical work embodied in a sound recording, or(c) a sound recording in which a musical work, or a performer's performance of a musical work, is embodied
onto an audio recording medium for the private use of the person who makes the copy does not constitute an infringement of the copyright in the musical work, the performer's performance or the sound recording.”
The keywords here are the private use of the person making the copy. If the U.S. would adopt this type of laws, we would not have these horribly frivolous and absurd lawsuits by the RIAA.
Write your elected official if you can, make your voice heard. At the very least, hit them where it hurts, by boycotting anything involving the RIAA. Support your artists through concert promotions and merchandise, and continue to obtain your music the that best suits you within the ideal legal grounds. iTunes, Napster, buying cds and ripping them, using your mp3 player. Whatever the movement takes.
I am hopeful that the artists of today will realize that they should be part of the revolution instead the end of the previous evolution. We are becoming more and more connected as a culture, and the time of one person buying a hard copy of media is fading fast. I hope the RIAA realizes it is now declaring Microsoft’s Windows Media Player an illegal piece of software by taking this stance. It can rip copy protected cds with the option “rip protected cds” checked. According to the RIAA, software which leads to the infringement of copyrighted material is illegal, as is their case in getting p2p software sites shutdown. All computers in this country running windows (something like 98%) are now considered illegal by the RIAA. How do you feel about that?
1 comment:
They added a correction to the article saying that the reason this lawsuit was brought because the music was in a shared folder for distribution online.
However, they still maintain that any copying of the CD's is pretty much illegal, but that they probably won't do anything as long as it is for personal use and not given away, sold or lent to someone.
I understand that if I buy a toaster I cannot make a copy of it. If it breaks down I have to fix it or buy another. However, there are two problems at least with that comparision.
One, music goes out of print so quickly that if a cd gets scratched beyond repair, you may not find it again. It might be easier with online places such as eBay and Amazon, but no guarantee and even then it might cost a lot.
Secondly, just what are you buying when you buy a CD? The music, or the CD it is pressed on? If I am buying the music (I am) if a CD scratches and is unplayable I cannot use the music I have paid for. If they say it is the CD, then they have no claim on the music.
What they want to say is that own the music and you cannot duplicate it. Well, since my listening to the music I have bought is dependent on the CD it is pressed on remaining in good condition, I think I should be able to protect the music by backing it up. It is almost as if they are telling someone who buys the toaster that they cannot use parts of the toaster that has gone bad on another toaster. Tuck tookies!
I have no doubt that there are problems with people making illegal copies, distributing them etc. but they are overcorrecting in an effort to stop it. It would be like saying no one can have a gun because some idiots shoot people with them. Oh, wait, in our society that has happened.
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