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RIAA Files More Lawsuits, Happily Getting The Wrong Message Out
from the incorrect-education dept
No surprise at all, but the RIAA has now launched their third set of lawsuits against those they accuse of copyright infringement for distributing works without the copyright owners permission via various file sharing services. The more interesting part of the article, though, is that the RIAA claims they're convincing people that downloading is illegal. They mention a recent study "showing 64 percent of Americans understand it is illegal to download music." That's nice... except for the fact that it isn't actually illegal to download music. It is most likely illegal to download certain pieces of music, but there's plenty of music out there that musicians want you to download and share. Of course, those musicians generally aren't supported by RIAA-member labels, so the RIAA couldn't care any less about them. Update: Also, according to this other article, among those who had a lawsuit filed against them in the last batch was a 79-year-old retiree who does not own a computer - who had to send a hand written note to the judge explaining that there must be some mistake.
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(IL)Legal Downloads
"...but there's plenty of music out there that musicians want you to download and share. Of course, those musicians generally aren't supported by RIAA-member labels, so the RIAA couldn't care any less about them."
True.
Like many independent musicians, I encourage downloading and trading of my material, and allow for derivative works:
http://homepage.mac.com/sfpanda/index.html#cnu
A local celtic band, Fiddler's Fancy, has what they call a 'Virtual Demo Tape' on their site. They know that the downloads help create awareness about the band, and get the gigs or help to pack gigs:
http://cattaylor.com/ffancy.htm
And their are projects like iRate, that have downloads exclusively from artists that are offering their songs, so no infringing files like on most p2p networks.
http://irate.sourceforge.net/
Sigh.
It frustrates me that people confuse the technologies with the laws - p2p networks and downloading files are not inherently illegal, and their are artists that encourage their works being shared.
First Side Note - I stopped buying CDs from RIAA artists a while back when this got just too damned surreal for me. The RIAA understands money, so vote with your dollars - don't buy their um, product. Instead, spend those bones on local artists. You'll get more for your money that way, anyhow.
Second Side Note - I wonder sometimes if the copyright laws are too restrictive, and if they favor big business too much. The thought came to me recently after finding a site called Star Wars Fanworks.
http://www.starwarsfanworks.com/
And then I went looking for a similar site that does Star Trek stuff. Couldn't find one, because Paramount has a habit of sicking their lawyers on any fan who dares to do fan art of any kind and put it on their web site, etc; but Lucasfilm lets the fans do not for profit derivative works, so there is a HUGE amount of Star Wars fan audio and film.
B
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Fair Use Sharing Idea
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No Subject Given
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Re: No Subject Given
Besides, you're wrong. The solution doesn't have to be for the media companies. Media companies can go out of business if the users don't buy into their vision. The solution only has to work for the users. Then, the smart businesses will come along and figure out a way to make money.
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It's sad...
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I vote with my dollar$
I've basically stopped purchasing music for the last 3-4 years. Not that I wouldn't mind purchasing a cd for something like $6-$9 - I feel the music's worth purchasing at that price point.
My feeling now is to get the music I'll listen to from the source of where I learn of it:
Now mostly through college radio stations. This is where I hear all the stuff I've desperately tried to buy (and most often failed to find).
My main problem with the recordings off of the radio is the inability of setting the recordings to go off during the correct time when I'm at work - like the time-shifting capabilities of a vcr.
There's the sound quality, too of course... But these stations usually let me know the Author-Title of the music so I could purchase it, given I can find the right spelling.
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