MediaSlap blog

Battle Lines

“There’s battle lines being drawn… Nobody’s right, if everybody’s wrong.”
For What It’s Worth – Buffalo Springfield

Now a rational person would surmise that REALLY – You can’t win. Copyright law was written FOR the content creators and copyright holders. But this hasn’t stopped an atmosphere of sheer insanity from developing. In the matter of Lenz v. Universal Music, a California mother posted a short video on YouTube of her toddler dancing to Prince’s “Let’s Get Crazy” for around 20 seconds. Universal, following guidelines from the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, sent a takedown notice to YouTube and YouTube complied. Case closed, right? – Oh No! Lenz sent a counter-notification to YouTube claiming “fair use” (see Part II of this series) of the copyright and demanded the video be re-posted. YouTube reposted the video and Lenz filed suit against Universal seeking monetary damages from them, claiming they had no copyright infringement claim! This case is certainly going to be one to watch…

To avoid copyright infringement when playing/streaming music on the internet, music licensing is the normal path to follow. But when it involves rate negotiations, normal gets thrown out the door. After becoming frustrated in negotiations with Google, Warner Music Group pulled its music videos off YouTube in the U.S. in December 2008. Then, in March 2009, frustrated with the U.K.’s Performing Rights Society for Music (PRS), Google took an equal & opposite approach and began random removal of major label videos first in the U.K., then in Germany. This prompted the ire of U.K. artists and music publishers to side with PRS and internet interests like last.fm to publicly side with YouTube. And in the midst of both actions, YouTube instituted a system that automatically removed unlicensed music tracks from posted videos before even receiving DMCA takedown notices. So add YouTube content posters and, no doubt, multitudes of YouTube fans to the unhappy fray. And it’s only a matter of time before MySpace, Pandora, and others enter into the fray. The whole affair begins to resemble the remark, “If momma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy!”

If you’re thinking that progress is being made by either side, nothing could be further from the truth. The album release date, once sacred among major labels marketers and their artists, is now just gone. Album “leaks” have so saturated the internet, they have become “de rigueur” for any major music release. Indeed, tech-guru and Wired magazine editor, Chris Anderson, has introduced us to the “freeconomics” concept. But to rationalize that simply because your album is leaked (and based on that factor alone) that your sales will be greater, requires a great leap of marketing faith (and many other commodities and merchandise for-sale to the public). Anderson does make one primary point to ponder, “The moment a company’s primary expenses become things based in silicon, free becomes not just an option but the inevitable destination.”
http://www.wired.com/techbiz/it/magazine/16-03/ff_free

So where does all this leave us? My little dissertation here is not going to solve any problems where all the parties involved are behaving like out-of-control children. So what are reasonable solutions to this modern mess? For a moment, let’s review “the truths we know to be self-evident”:

From the moment a compact disc was able to be ripped into an mp3 and digitally transported to someone either via P2P networks or email, copyright and control of distribution could no longer be contained and controlled by traditional standards.

Taking property from creators, be they artistic, financial or both, without payment is theft. This is not really an arguable point from either a legal or social point of view.

The current and prevailing penalties for digital copyright theft on an individual basis, are unreasonable by any stretch of the imagination unless accessed at, or near, the lowest values statutorily allowed ($750 per infringement).

Laws are NOT going to be changed through the court system! Attorneys listen up and please quit wasting the taxpayers’ money!

ISP’s and file sharing networks can no longer turn a blind eye to thieves of intellectual property within their digital borders anymore than foreign trading partners can ignore the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) within their geographic borders. Get over it!

Now can we consider some reasonable compromises?

Ultimately, software can be written to not only monitor P2P file sharing infringements, but to remove/block them when they occur. You do not have to disconnect the violator from the ISP after 3 strikes, but if they become a constant pain in your backsides, maybe you’ll consider that!

Reasonable penalties will command reasonable respect for the law! After all, laws are the glue that we all agree to abide by to prevent chaos as a society.

The “rockstar” image cultivated by major labels has done irreparable harm to music and art. Musicians and performers need to be portrayed as the hard-working individuals they are. Major labels need to return to their roots, hire people who understand music and turn out quality product. And not just for young people – Boomers will, and always have, paid for the music they love! (Note to major labels – don’t forget who “brung you”).

Educate yourself! You do not have a god-given right to use anyone’s music for your home videos, especially when posted to the web! It is not Fair Use! In turn, copyright owners should consider making reasonable allowances for situational uses – It just might help them sell more product!

Now, can we all just get along? Nothing else seems to be working!

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