HOME TAPING IS KILLING MUSIC, PART 18,457

[defrog]

Reports from the RIAA War On Thieving Pirates Like You®:

1. Music labels are suing Internet service providers and asking judges to force them to filter their users’ traffic and adopt a “three strikes” policy disconnecting users busted a third time for copyright infringement.

2. Music labels are suing Project Playlist for “massive infringment” because it allows users to embed music players in their MySpace page to listen to music streams from files on other computers. Note that Sony BMG is the only label not suing them.

3. Microsoft says it won’t support the DRM keys on any music sold via its now-defunct MSN Music Store after September. That means people who bought tunes or albums from the MSN Music store have to pick a computer (and OS) they want to authorize to be able to play it for the rest of their lives. Once they stop using that computer, the music they legally paid for is useless and can never be played on anything else ever again. The EFF sends Steve Ballmer an open letter demanding MS apologize to its customers. Ha ha.

4. Some of Australia's biggest musical acts are appearing in a new 10-minute documentary asking fans to please not steal their music, otherwise they’ll be too poor to make music.

"There becomes a point where you've gotta make X amount to be able to continue, you know, unless you want to be an old mate that lives in Byron Bay and sits in his hinterland shack and just plays an acoustic guitar," says Ben Gillies, drummer with Silverchair.

"The problem with downloading obviously is that it's ruining our industry in a way, because I mean you know artists just aren't making money, record companies aren't making money from it," says Lisa Origliasso of The Veronicas.

Oh, DO shut up, both of you.

FUN FACT: The Veronicas (who are kinda like Avril Lavigne, but twin sisters, and Australian) made $1.7 million last year.

Look: I fully understand wanting to make a living making music, but if yr a millionaire and STILL complaining, then seriously, fuck you. Maybe digital piracy will weed out these greedy fucks who whinge about not being able to be as rich and famous as U2, and then the only people left will be people who actually want to make music for its own sake.

Okay, that’s comic exaggeration. But I really don’t understand why, instead of pressuring their own fans not to download, artists don’t turn on the record companies who fucked up their chances of commercial success early on by trying to sue digital music out of existence instead of embracing it when they had the chance.

Rip mix burn,

This is dF

Comments

[bluesgirly.livejournal.com]

I am an author. Hopefully, persons who like my book let their sister borrow it who then gave it to a co-worker who couldn't help but give me rave reviews on Amazon.

I should sue the sister and the co-worker?

Idiots!

[def-fr0g-42.livejournal.com]

I wondered how you might feel about this. Authors are facing a similar issue with e-books, and I've heard it from both sides – some worry about piracy hurting their ability to write for a living, others see it as welcome viral promotion. Me, I favor the latter option if and when my own fiction career ever gets off the ground. Sure, I'd rather be paid, but I'd also like to be widely read.

[garbagecanmusic.livejournal.com]

*waits patiently for fiction career*

[dinopollard.livejournal.com]

Exactly! I'm a writer as well and I don't expect someone who's read my stuff because they borrowed it from a friend to pay me money for it. Nor do I expect libraries to pay me for each person who checks out a copy.

This has been going on with publishing for years and writers don't make shit compared to musicians.

[bluesgirly.livejournal.com]

I didn't think of that library thing - that is a brilliant point.

Publishing is the weirdest business there is.