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  #1  
Old 01-02-2008, 12:19 AM
BigRed51 BigRed51 is offline
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Default I have purchased my last CD

I have bought hundreds of records, 8 track tapes, cassettes, and CD's over the years. Today I have decided NEVER to buy another one. The music industry is out of control, and in a panic over CD sales. They seem to have free reign to write their own copyright laws, and the government looks the other way. I'm sure that millions of dollars of lobbying money have nothing to do with it.

This was the last straw ... here are excerpts from an article in the Washington Post, and several other sources:

Download Uproar: Record Industry Goes After Personal Use
By Marc Fisher
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, December 30, 2007

In legal documents in its federal case against Jeffrey Howell, a Scottsdale, Ariz., man who kept a collection of about 2,000 music recordings on his personal computer, the industry maintains that it is illegal for someone who has legally purchased a CD to transfer that music into his computer.

The industry's lawyer in the case, Ira Schwartz, argues in a brief filed earlier this month that the MP3 files Howell made on his computer from legally bought CDs are "unauthorized copies" of copyrighted recordings.

"I couldn't believe it when I read that," says Ray Beckerman, a New York lawyer who represents six clients who have been sued by the RIAA. "The basic principle in the law is that you have to distribute actual physical copies to be guilty of violating copyright. But recently, the industry has been going around saying that even a personal copy on your computer is a violation."

The industry's own Web site says that making a personal copy of a CD that you bought legitimately may not be a legal right, but it "won't usually raise concerns," as long as you don't give away the music or lend it to anyone.

***

SO if we buy a CD and put the music onto an MP3 player for our personal use, we are now criminals according to the RIAA. If we let someone borrow a CD we buy legally to listen to it, we are criminals. I assume that if we keep a backup copy of a legally downloaded MP3, we are also criminals. They have gone WAY over the line.

I understand that the industry has a problem with pirated copies and illegal file sharing. I understand that CD sales are plummeting, so the RIAA has decided that the best solution is to sue their good customers who buy the products legally. Nice choice. Next they will want me to pay royalties if someone rides in the car with me while I listen to a CD ... and the I am sure that ASCAP and BMI will be right in line wanting me to pay an annual royalty fee if I play a CD at home and a guest drops by.

I've had enough. The music industry is the dirtiest business in the world ... makes the oil companies look like saints! I can no longer support them by buying their products, so I will just listen to what I have already bought. I will be careful, however, to be sure no one else is home, that the doors are locked, and the window shades are pulled down. And I better buy headphones to use in the car, so someone passing buy won't hear a song and get me sued for "sharing." I certainly realize that my decision will not have even the slightest impact on their business, but it will make me feel better.

By the way, I know there are lots of songwriters here that will sing praises to the protection they are offered by ASCAP and BMI. Perhaps even one or two that were actually paid a royalty check that they deserved, but that would be VERY rare. I would invite you to read this article: www.shadoshea.com/services/royalties/index.php3
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Old 01-02-2008, 01:58 AM
vti814ce vti814ce is offline
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Hi Big Red,
I read your statemnt and havent had the chance to read the link yet, but I think I know what your saying. Is it not then just a amatter of time before we start having to pay a fee everytime we listen to song on you tube, or download it to the MP3, if thats possible, I am not too saavy in techno? It's their fault they created the technology, not us the consumers. Yeah, with the internet and file sharing CD sales should die or go on a big time sale because they are already overpriced for what the musicians recieve and all the junk they hype anywa, while all the good music I love to hear has to struggle to feed themselves unless they have Ashley Simpsons dad, cause those kids are talented... thanks for the link,

Sammy
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Old 01-02-2008, 06:41 AM
SouthernCelt SouthernCelt is offline
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Saw this the other day on the internet and posted some comments of my own on MySpace. While this is patently rediculous, as you say because of the bigwigs in the recording industry panicking over declining sales, the real "pushers" behind this are the lawyers 'cause they get paid regardless of how the suits come out in the courts.
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Old 01-02-2008, 06:58 AM
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Bob Womack Bob Womack is offline
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And here's the result: If you make enough regulations, everyone is a criminal and everyone looses faith in the legal system.

Bob
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Old 01-02-2008, 07:11 AM
dthumb dthumb is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob Womack View Post
And here's the result: If you make enough regulations, everyone is a criminal and everyone looses faith in the legal system.

Bob
i dunno about you , bob but, i have all the faith in the world that the legal system (a self-sustaining, auto-regenerating, system that has made it self both the object of disdain and utter necessity....and includes most politicians...as if that isn't indictment enough) will eventually eat itself. unfortunately, it will, most likely, regurgitate itself back up with a whole new itinerary.
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Old 01-02-2008, 07:20 AM
PorkPieGuy PorkPieGuy is offline
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Please, don't forget to support your local artist who is selling CD's at your local bar, coffee shop, or resteraunt!!!

Uummm...anyone wanna buy a CD?
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Old 01-02-2008, 07:34 AM
Marshall Marshall is offline
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It's like the little Dutch boy sticking his finger in the New Orleans levee during hurricane Katrina.

It ain't gonna stop anything. But I sure wouldn't want to be the poor sucker stuck defending the whole of humanity against the angry junkyard RIAA legal crew.

PS - And I agree with Pokpie. Go buy discs off your fav local artist.
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Old 01-02-2008, 07:39 AM
mikelhenry mikelhenry is offline
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Originally Posted by PorkPieGuy View Post
Uummm...anyone wanna buy a CD?
Sure, as long as you sign this contract promising not to sue me if I should like it so much that I play it for my friends and encourage them to buy it too! The contract also has a confession that you are not now, nor ever have been a member of the RIAA.
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Old 01-02-2008, 07:47 AM
tgm tgm is offline
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I assume they'll wise up eventually. I view this as a last ditch effort to milk their cash cow. While I agree the commercial music industry is messed up right now, I can't help but mention it's not just the music industry doing this. We have a legal problem right now where it's in fashion to go around suing people into submission. I think the real problem is the dated copyright and patent system.

Working in the software industry there has been a similar thing going on. And the result has been the free and open source software movement. I think a similar thing is and will continue in the music industry as well.

Even though I'm a pessimist, I can't help but believe there are smart people in these companies that eventually will convince those that make the decisions that what they're doing is wrong. It's just going to take the prospect of new revenue streams. My fear is that it's all going to ad supported. So we'll have free music if we can put up with commercial breaks. Look to the online TV episodes for example.
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Old 01-02-2008, 08:16 AM
deltoid deltoid is offline
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The music industry is trying to sell shoestrings to a world that's wearing loafers. Telling a person they can't rip the tracks of a legally purchased CD to an mp3 player is telling that person it's better to steal the media and do what you want with it rather than pay for it.
I think as more artists do their own distribution via online resources, the major record labels will die a slow death, however they won't go down without a fight. They do have a very powerful congressional lobby.
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Old 01-02-2008, 08:34 AM
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I can semi-understand the PC/Mac thing--MP3 files then can be "file shared" which was/is the BANE of the RIAA, not to mention artists, and their entire entourage (company, bandmates, composers, etc.). But on an iPod? Or MP3 Player? Well, I guess you can USB two together and copy, right? (I haven't-because you cannot just isolate single tunes AFAIK-you end up with the complete file, like when you update; it reloads the whole enchilada).

Sorry, but I agree the bean-counters and legal-eagles at RIAA, Sony, BMG (not the "club") are going to kill their own golden goose, even if she is laying silver or bronze eggs right now. Odd as it may seem, some "file shared MP3's" I "illegally" copied back when Napster was free, and swapping tunes was "no big thing" led me to BUY the artists' (in SOME cases) CD's. So-it's not always just a case of free music with no seeds sown. But I understand why it went to paying for it.

FWIW, my wife has in the past 2 years taken this sudden attraction to opera, and musicians and soloists NOT on these "free download" sites. She had received as gifts, or purchased a LOT of CD's this past year, including a 4-Disc set with DVD "tribute" to Pavarotti. You ain't likely to get that on "Napster," or off some college kid's PC server.

And the litigation against teens and a middle-aged Mom we all recently read about, socking them with THOUSANDS in fines, far exceeding the few play lists they had? Geez.
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Old 01-02-2008, 08:52 AM
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If the RIAA keeps up this abuse there will come a point where there will be a public outcry and copyright laws will be revised in a way that makes them completely toothless.
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Old 01-02-2008, 09:20 AM
sharkydude50 sharkydude50 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by astrummer View Post
If the RIAA keeps up this abuse there will come a point where there will be a public outcry and copyright laws will be revised in a way that makes them completely toothless.
Bet I'm deader than a door nail & colder than the Artic Circle before that happens!
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Old 01-02-2008, 10:57 AM
StringFive StringFive is offline
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Got a solution. Independent music.

I'm proud to be an independent musician. I've got no record label and no publishing house. I do, however, have three CD's out, or you can download the MP3's online. I'd be pleased if anyone liked my music, copied it, listened to it...and yes, even passed it along to friends. So, I invite everyone to check it out at the website below. But beyond this shameless plug, I feel that independent music is the answer to the madness of the record industry. There are plenty of great musicians and artist on CD Baby, etc, who are pleased to share the music and perhaps make a few bucks along the way, but are not tied into the corporate disfunction.
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Old 01-02-2008, 11:49 AM
Ooogie Boogie Ooogie Boogie is offline
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Saw this on the news the other night and my initial reaction was to laugh at the absurdity but I sure don't envy the poor guy who has to deal with this test case. It's one of those cases where you hope the judge will admonish the idiot lawyers for wasting everyone's time and apologize to the defendant
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