Supporters Of SOPA/PIPA Make Arguments That Make No Sense

Overhype

from the please-make-it-stop dept

A few folks pointed out Bruce Iglauer’s opinion piece in the Chicago Tribune, urging support for PROTECT IP. It’s a little odd, because the piece never mentions SOPA at all, and applauds the “introduction” of PROTECT IP (PIPA), despite that happening many months ago. Either way, while I’m sure that Iglauer, an old school indie label founder and operator, means well, his arguments make almost no sense. First, he runs through all the usual tropes about how “you wouldn’t steal a stick of gum.” Of course, that should be a sign that perhaps (just perhaps) something is different online. Instead, people like Iglauer, after fundamentally recognizing digital works are different, then pretends they should be treated the same. Then it’s time for strawmen:

This kind of theft is often rationalized as “all musicians are rich anyway” or “all the record companies are ripping off the musicians” or “music should be free.”

Thing is, almost none of these arguments are regularly used by those worried about PIPA and SOPA. I’ve never heard anyone say that “all musicians are rich anyway.” And while I’m sure someone, somewhere, may have made those latter two arguments, they’re far from common, and not the reason most people are opposed to this overly aggressive, draconian legal mess.

He then goes on to knock down the strawmen he set up, pointing out that many musicians are poor. Um. Yes. That’s how it’s always been. That’s got nothing to do with copyright infringement. In fact, the internet has allowed many, many more musicians to make money from their works than ever before. In the past, most artists made nothing (or went into debt). Now it’s much, much easier to make some money. That seems like progress. But Iglauer seems to be suggesting that copyright should be welfare for artists who can’t succeed. I don’t see how that makes much sense. He puts forth some sob stories of artists who don’t make much money and then proudly states that “about one dollar of ever four that my company takes in is paid to a musician or songwriter.”

Is that really something to be proud of? Perhaps it beats the much lower royalty rates of the majors, but for artists adopting new platforms like Kickstarter and TopSpin, they can retain the vast majority of money that people pay for their stuff. That seems like a good opportunity for artists. Though, perhaps not for Iglauer.

Later, he laughably calls the IFPI’s piracy estimates “the most conservative estimates.” That’s ridiculous. The IFPI’s estimates are not conservative in any way, and are based on the group’s desire to push for more draconian copyright laws and enforcement.

Finally, he fails to acknowledge even a single reason why so many people are up in arms about PIPA and how it is overly broad and leads to a very high likelihood of abuse and censorship. Reading this, all I can think is, there’s a label that failed to adapt to changing times and now thinks that it’s the government’s responsibility to fix his business mistakes. Sorry, Bruce, but that’s not the way things should work.

Filed Under: bruce iglauer, copyright, indie music, pipa, protect ip, sopa, strawmen