Alright, let me explain something. Just because you bought a CD, or a song on iTunes, does not, I repeat, DOES NOT, mean you have any right to copy, distribute, or give away that music as you see fit. The copyright owner can range from a number of people such as the record label, the songwriter, or the artist depending on the situation. It does not belong to you, the fan or purchaser of a copy of that song.
THAT BEING SAID. When you upload music, movies, other copyrighted material and give it away for free in some kind of torrent when you DO NOT own the rights to, you take away someone else’s earnings. When you do that, you give artists less and less of a chance to continue making music. Hours were spent on not only creating the work you hear or see but there was a marketing team, publicists, managers, and a multitude of other people behind that piece of work. I know for years people have been complaining and campaigning against copyright infringers for years, especially the major labels.
Yes, there are many more ways to make music at home now-a-days and even some bigger bands are using those options. But that doesn’t mean they can give everything away for free forever. It’s their job, how they make a living. The music industry, the entertainment industry as a whole, is how thousands of people make a living every year. And just like everyone else in this economy, they are suffering, and they’re losing jobs. Major record labels that have been tastemakers and trendsetters for decades have now had to close their doors because there is no money to support them. It’s heartbreaking and disturbing.
Please don’t misunderstand, if an artist, as the copyright holder, decides to give away his/her/their music for free on their own in order to just be heard and gain a fanbase, that is their choice. But they can’t make music their life and expect to make a living while doing that every day. The problem is that consumers feel they deserve music for free. Like they had something to do with what was created or you know, have any say in it’s distribution. The truth of the matter is, you as a consumer don’t get to make that decision; I understand not wanting to pay $14.00 for 10 songs when this time 15 years ago it was $10.00 (give or take). I get that. There are cheaper ways of purchasing music legally that doesn’t require you to just find it for free or give it away for free.
So you, as the reader, are aware, copyright law does allow you to make a single physical copy of what you purchased in order to have a back up. Making more then that, or giving away copies, or selling copies is copyright infringement. The law also allows you to re-sell the item that you have purchased. This is why it is not illegal to re-sell old college text books, video stores can sell/rent movies, and you can have garage sales without being in violation of copyright. You can also use copyrighted material based on the very specific terms that define Fair Use. Other then that, as someone who does not hold a copyright, you cannot redistribute the work in anyway. To do so can be punishable by law and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) can fine you up to $250,000 and 5 years in jail per violation. Think about that the next time you decide to download copyrighted material illegally…
Now, why did I decide to go on this rant about copyright and infringement? Because for the last month and a half I have been working part time at an independent jazz label working on taking down illegal torrents with the label’s music. I spend 20 hours a week digging through torrents and websites that claim they aren’t hosting anything on their servers, and sending cease and desist notices to these websites. I have sent over 2000 e-mails in that time and about 80% of them have come down. Yes this is a great success, but it doesn’t take away from the fact that once music is made available for free in this manner, it spreads like wildfire and is really hard to control. A label should be putting their effort into getting an artist more appearances, more studio time, a better marketing campaign; but now precious man hours are spent in trying to protect when they’ve worked so hard to create. There shouldn’t be such a fight between fans and music makers on how to keep music alive, but there is. Is it a wonder why people are coming together to push through something like PROTECT IP (which may do more harm then good and is still being discussed amongst law makers) in order to help cut out the noise and better protect copyrighted materials?
I can’t understand why we as a mass, have such a negative view of paying for music or movies or books (to a lesser extent). People work hard to create these things we greatly enjoy and use probably far more then you even realize. It’s so hard to discuss this with people who aren’t in the industry, because they just don’t get it. They’re thought process is “What’s the big deal?” Well, let me put it to you like this: 1. What if you are a farmer, but consumers just take your crops and never pay you for your hard work? 2. What if you serve in the military but civilians don’t pay any taxes contributing to your salary? 3. What if you are an architect who never seems a dime for the hours you spent designing building simply because the name Hilton, or Westin, or Motel 6 goes on the side of it, and not yours? People don’t think about the music industry, or most parts of the entertainment industry, as being a legitimate way of making money. People are passionate about music they same way people are passionate about working with the earth, serving their country, or designing new buildings, and from that passion they pursue ways to make a living from it.
I just want people to remember that the next time they think about downloading a song by their favorite artist, a movie directed by a popular well known name, or pulling a memorable picture from offline. Music is my life, and the life of many many other people. I don’t know what I’d do if I lost that…
musicfordinner 