As we saw with Correct the Record, there is money floating around for theses kind of articles, paid by the people running the legal campaigns for or against (is in this case) the laws in question.
Who is paying Ulanoff? Remember when George Will was exposed for someone paying him? He bulled it through by basically saying "How dare you ask me who pays?"
It's hard to make a living in media these days. As always, follow the money.
"Mr. Murphy then suggested that what Mr. Elliott had been doing was defending himself, and his views, when he was being attacked on Twitter by her and the other complainants. Wasn’t he entitled to do that?
“He’s entitled to defend himself to the world, Mr. Murphy; he’s not entitled to do it to me.”
“No matter what you say about or to him?” Mr. Murphy asked.
As an artist you know that once you let your music out into the wild, anyone can use it.
But if someone is using it to support an issue or candidate you don't like, it's part of maintaining your reputation to speak out and let people know. It's certainly not childish and petty.
Remember when "My City Was Gone" was being used as the Rush Limbaugh theme? People were shouting "Rush Limbaugh!" at her shows. She told people she had no control over it, but still had to deal with consequences.
Once the civil trial is over, then the cops and doctors should be charged with sexual assault. The doc should be barred from practicing medicine in any capacity and the cops should not be able to get a job in any kind of future security work, ever.
That should all happen after they have served prison sentences that take them into old age.
Of course the city should pay - they hired the rapists. But the city should sue the rapists for the settlement plus attorney fees.
Paul - she's out there doing the hard work herself. Metaxa comes along and dumps huge dollars into a beer campaign, buys radio time etc. All the "hard work" you want doesn't compete with that.
I definitely feel Erin's pain, but I think she's got a long road to travel to prove real infringement. It's certainly a rip off in spirit and the arrangements are shamefully close, but most of the similarities are in the set of very common tools: straight eight piano, the vocal doubling, the "girl growl" thing that so many singers are using these days it's really hard to tell them apart.
But in terms of exact melody, she might be out on a limb. That's one of the problems with a seven note scale - SO much has already been done.
For what it's worth, I think her poem is the better piece of work, and it really does sound like the guys who wrote it used it as a template and that's a real shame.
But, well, BOTH pieces are not exactly original sounding.
If it was an argument between two writers, I'd be a lot more inclined to say figure out a way to profit from the controversy and let the lawyers go make money off someone else. But it APPEARS (and I'm working from what I read so I may be wrong) that the whole thing was financed by a billion dollar multinational company specifically to sell beer.
So IF she has a case (and I think it's dubious, but I haven't transcribed the notes for a match) this would be the kind of thing that supports an argument for copyright. She's out there humpin' the boonies playing her tunes and some mega corp comes along and uses her tune for a template, sells a bunch of beer and makes a ton of money for a "song stylist." She'd be about 2/3rds of the way through her copyright, if we stuck to the original 14 year plan. It's supposed to give authors enough time to establish their works in the marketplace.
What I don't get, is the animosity toward Erin. She may or may not have a case, but it's similar enough to rightly feel like she did the work. She's working in the system we have, not the system many of us want. I wish her the best.
So has anyone started the "Fire Maria Pallante" petition on whitehouse.gov? Or is there a better site?
No one but Congress can fire the five RIAA lawyers now on the Federal bench. But we might be able to get this stooge out of the position she holds. I would expect it would need to be a very large number of people before anyone takes notice.
The standard major label contract makes it clear that all recording expenses come out of future royalties. That's why they call it an "advance" - so they can't have it both ways. If the record doesn't sell enough, the artist actually OWES the label. That's not work for hire.
An artist that hires a session musician to play orchestral parts, THAT is a work for hire. I'm looking forward to seeing Paul McCartney get his portion of the Beatles portfolio back.
I moved my nine domain names last night to Namecheap at about 7pm, when the number was at around $21k. This morning, after doing the last confirmation link, the number was over $61k.
Moving to namecheap was really easy, their registration process and website is FAR easier to use, without the aggressive and slightly confusing ad gauntlet you have to go through with Godaddy and by purchasing last night, I donated $9 to EFF. Namecheap also adds your remaining time with Godaddy to your renewal time - so there is no $$ loss.
At around $10 a name, it appears pretty clear that at the very least, the boycott cost Godaddy around $600k in one day. Maybe that's chicken feed, but it would get my attention. Because it's not just this year - it's every year thereafter. It's a small pain to move my registration, but it's a pain, so unless you do something to really make me want to move, I'll probably stick with Namecheap for years to come.
Sony calls it Freegal (owned by Library Ideas, who I would guess are owned by Sony) and depending on the contract, they get $1.29 per song from the library. Some libraries love it, some hate it. It's a lot of money.
If they are orphan works, how does the Authors Guild even have standing? Isn't the whole point that no one can find the authors? There is no one to represent!
If the actually FIND the authors, then they are no longer orphan works.
While I haven't had any problem setting my homepage, if you mis-type a URL, Comcast hijacks your browser with suggestions and you can't use the back button to go to your old search.
The old Ma bell saying applies here too: Comcast, we don't care, we don;t have to."
So the thought just occurred to me: If Righthaven can't sue alleged infringers because one can not sell only the right to sue, then how can the RIAA sue alleged infringers?
Surely the RIAA doesn't own the copyrights. Is the RIAA just the enforcement arm of the labels and not actually party to the lawsuits?
It's not about secrecy, it's about winning the case. The IRS has a policy of not recognizing precedent. Sure they've lost thousands of cases over specific clauses in the tax code, but if you're audited, they'll say "prove it in court."
There is no "head in the sand" here - they are entirely aware they're using the law to obfuscate facts and deny the accused their basic rights.
One thing that came to mind when Phillip Pullman's "Golden Compass" did so poorly at the box office. It cane out at roughly the same time as the Narnia Series which did really well, and I realized that Pullman didn't have 30 years to imprint generation or two of kids.
Same thing with Rand. A lot of people will think "Atlas Shrugged" is garbage, but enough have been imprinted that it will do well. The beloved books of our childhood do well - even the awful ones.
The anti-trust issues around buying the majors up I think could be beaten by the fact that so *far* larger numbers of indie titles are released than what the majors put out. How many titles out of the 115,000 plus released annualy are actually major label? 1,000?
Google buying out the major labels might make a better overall market...
I was taught the old way, but figured out the "guesstimate" way for multiplying things in my head.
The old way is much faster for large numbers - and also has a degree of certainty as you go along that is kind of comforting to me. Maybe it's ingrained prejudice, but my thinking is that arithmetic is about taking the guess work out of the basics.
Obviously both methods work, and of course explaining *why* something works has always been better for me. I just learned that rote has a purpose - get the scales down and the rest of the music theory will be *much* easier....
115,000 titles released in 2008. Does every one of those who "deserve" to make a living?
I just had a really validating weekend: we had a cd release party where we said "No one goes home without a cd - pay what you want. 25 cds went out the door and we averaged exactly we'd normally charge, $15 each. But the folks that paid less, were just as excited (maybe more) than the folks who paid $25.
On top of that, a fan who has been wanted to donate for years, received an inheritance and donated $2000.00 and said "Make more art and music!"
who pays?
As we saw with Correct the Record, there is money floating around for theses kind of articles, paid by the people running the legal campaigns for or against (is in this case) the laws in question.
Who is paying Ulanoff? Remember when George Will was exposed for someone paying him? He bulled it through by basically saying "How dare you ask me who pays?"
It's hard to make a living in media these days. As always, follow the money.
Anyone but me
"Mr. Murphy then suggested that what Mr. Elliott had been doing was defending himself, and his views, when he was being attacked on Twitter by her and the other complainants. Wasn’t he entitled to do that?
“He’s entitled to defend himself to the world, Mr. Murphy; he’s not entitled to do it to me.”
“No matter what you say about or to him?” Mr. Murphy asked.
“Not to me,” she said."
It boggles the mind.
Moral rights
As an artist you know that once you let your music out into the wild, anyone can use it.
But if someone is using it to support an issue or candidate you don't like, it's part of maintaining your reputation to speak out and let people know. It's certainly not childish and petty.
Remember when "My City Was Gone" was being used as the Rush Limbaugh theme? People were shouting "Rush Limbaugh!" at her shows. She told people she had no control over it, but still had to deal with consequences.
Sexual assault
Once the civil trial is over, then the cops and doctors should be charged with sexual assault. The doc should be barred from practicing medicine in any capacity and the cops should not be able to get a job in any kind of future security work, ever.
That should all happen after they have served prison sentences that take them into old age.
Of course the city should pay - they hired the rapists. But the city should sue the rapists for the settlement plus attorney fees.
Re: The value created was not the song itself
Paul - she's out there doing the hard work herself. Metaxa comes along and dumps huge dollars into a beer campaign, buys radio time etc. All the "hard work" you want doesn't compete with that.
Rip off and exact copies
I definitely feel Erin's pain, but I think she's got a long road to travel to prove real infringement. It's certainly a rip off in spirit and the arrangements are shamefully close, but most of the similarities are in the set of very common tools: straight eight piano, the vocal doubling, the "girl growl" thing that so many singers are using these days it's really hard to tell them apart.
But in terms of exact melody, she might be out on a limb. That's one of the problems with a seven note scale - SO much has already been done.
For what it's worth, I think her poem is the better piece of work, and it really does sound like the guys who wrote it used it as a template and that's a real shame.
But, well, BOTH pieces are not exactly original sounding.
If it was an argument between two writers, I'd be a lot more inclined to say figure out a way to profit from the controversy and let the lawyers go make money off someone else. But it APPEARS (and I'm working from what I read so I may be wrong) that the whole thing was financed by a billion dollar multinational company specifically to sell beer.
So IF she has a case (and I think it's dubious, but I haven't transcribed the notes for a match) this would be the kind of thing that supports an argument for copyright. She's out there humpin' the boonies playing her tunes and some mega corp comes along and uses her tune for a template, sells a bunch of beer and makes a ton of money for a "song stylist." She'd be about 2/3rds of the way through her copyright, if we stuck to the original 14 year plan. It's supposed to give authors enough time to establish their works in the marketplace.
What I don't get, is the animosity toward Erin. She may or may not have a case, but it's similar enough to rightly feel like she did the work. She's working in the system we have, not the system many of us want. I wish her the best.
So has anyone started the "Fire Maria Pallante" petition on whitehouse.gov? Or is there a better site?
No one but Congress can fire the five RIAA lawyers now on the Federal bench. But we might be able to get this stooge out of the position she holds. I would expect it would need to be a very large number of people before anyone takes notice.
The standard major label contract makes it clear that all recording expenses come out of future royalties. That's why they call it an "advance" - so they can't have it both ways. If the record doesn't sell enough, the artist actually OWES the label. That's not work for hire.
An artist that hires a session musician to play orchestral parts, THAT is a work for hire. I'm looking forward to seeing Paul McCartney get his portion of the Beatles portfolio back.
EFF Donations above $61k at Namecheap this morning
I moved my nine domain names last night to Namecheap at about 7pm, when the number was at around $21k. This morning, after doing the last confirmation link, the number was over $61k.
Moving to namecheap was really easy, their registration process and website is FAR easier to use, without the aggressive and slightly confusing ad gauntlet you have to go through with Godaddy and by purchasing last night, I donated $9 to EFF. Namecheap also adds your remaining time with Godaddy to your renewal time - so there is no $$ loss.
At around $10 a name, it appears pretty clear that at the very least, the boycott cost Godaddy around $600k in one day. Maybe that's chicken feed, but it would get my attention. Because it's not just this year - it's every year thereafter. It's a small pain to move my registration, but it's a pain, so unless you do something to really make me want to move, I'll probably stick with Namecheap for years to come.
Sony calls it Freegal (owned by Library Ideas, who I would guess are owned by Sony) and depending on the contract, they get $1.29 per song from the library. Some libraries love it, some hate it. It's a lot of money.
Standing
If they are orphan works, how does the Authors Guild even have standing? Isn't the whole point that no one can find the authors? There is no one to represent!
If the actually FIND the authors, then they are no longer orphan works.
Hijacks in windows machines too
While I haven't had any problem setting my homepage, if you mis-type a URL, Comcast hijacks your browser with suggestions and you can't use the back button to go to your old search.
The old Ma bell saying applies here too: Comcast, we don't care, we don;t have to."
Re: Righthaven vs RIAa
Ok, never mind. I answered my own question.
Righthaven vs RIAa
So the thought just occurred to me: If Righthaven can't sue alleged infringers because one can not sell only the right to sue, then how can the RIAA sue alleged infringers?
Surely the RIAA doesn't own the copyrights. Is the RIAA just the enforcement arm of the labels and not actually party to the lawsuits?
Winning
It's not about secrecy, it's about winning the case. The IRS has a policy of not recognizing precedent. Sure they've lost thousands of cases over specific clauses in the tax code, but if you're audited, they'll say "prove it in court."
There is no "head in the sand" here - they are entirely aware they're using the law to obfuscate facts and deny the accused their basic rights.
Time to build buzz
One thing that came to mind when Phillip Pullman's "Golden Compass" did so poorly at the box office. It cane out at roughly the same time as the Narnia Series which did really well, and I realized that Pullman didn't have 30 years to imprint generation or two of kids.
Same thing with Rand. A lot of people will think "Atlas Shrugged" is garbage, but enough have been imprinted that it will do well. The beloved books of our childhood do well - even the awful ones.
A real chance
The anti-trust issues around buying the majors up I think could be beaten by the fact that so *far* larger numbers of indie titles are released than what the majors put out. How many titles out of the 115,000 plus released annualy are actually major label? 1,000?
Google buying out the major labels might make a better overall market...
Paper vs head
I was taught the old way, but figured out the "guesstimate" way for multiplying things in my head.
The old way is much faster for large numbers - and also has a degree of certainty as you go along that is kind of comforting to me. Maybe it's ingrained prejudice, but my thinking is that arithmetic is about taking the guess work out of the basics.
Obviously both methods work, and of course explaining *why* something works has always been better for me. I just learned that rote has a purpose - get the scales down and the rest of the music theory will be *much* easier....
Re:
115,000 titles released in 2008. Does every one of those who "deserve" to make a living?
I just had a really validating weekend: we had a cd release party where we said "No one goes home without a cd - pay what you want. 25 cds went out the door and we averaged exactly we'd normally charge, $15 each. But the folks that paid less, were just as excited (maybe more) than the folks who paid $25.
On top of that, a fan who has been wanted to donate for years, received an inheritance and donated $2000.00 and said "Make more art and music!"
You have to give them a reason to buy.
Re: Wrong
90% of GDP? Riiiiight. More than health care? More than the military industrial complex?
Puleaze. A few years ago when the majors still owned the market, the music industry was a $14 billion a year industry.