RIAA/MPAA Trying It Again

[KA8NCR]

The right of "fair use" has allowed you to do things like tape things with your VCR, copy your 33 RPM LPs to tape so you can listen to them in your car and create your own CDs. The RIAA and MPAA, concerned about piracy and declining sales, is now trying to get some legislation to pretty much do away with fair use.

They term it as "customary historic use" and what it means is that what you have now, you'll continue to get. But anything that's new or a future technology, well, forget it. Any new gadgets that come out for music distribution, you won't be able to control the media.

New personal video recorder? Forget time-shifting, you'll watch it when they say you watch it. New hard disk MP3 player? Forget about burning a backup copy of your music library. And you better believe that if they get this legislation, current formats for DVD and CDs will be immediately ushered out of existence.

It's obvious the RIAA and the MPAA are not going to wake up to the fact that they have decling sales not due to piracy, but because the product their members are pushing sucks. It's time for American consumers to really start demanding better.

Read the story here:
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/004340.php

Maybe it's time for a consumer boycott of companies that think it's okay to buy legislation that restricts the rights of consumers.

Sounds like a plan to me.

[N9XR]

Well, most people on QRZ are in favor of losing rights. Especially if if you mention that this is the stance Michael Jackson supports(allowing the recordings).

Since it is a pub lickin' circulating the bill, it's gotta be good for us.

What do you think the terrorists think about this? I bet thier skeered with this piece of legislation in the works.

Heil Bush

N9XR

[n8yx]

I have a fair amount of disposable income with which to play.

Due to recent past and previous actions of those two organizations, that portion of my income isn't getting spent on music or movies - at least, on any label which is carried by either of the two.

Been finding other ways to amuse myself - ham gear, mo'sickles and the like. The 'AAs can go stuff it as far as I'm concerned. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mad.gif

[W5HTW]

Quote[/b] (ka8ncr @ Jan. 22 2006,18:14)]It's obvious the RIAA and the MPAA are not going to wake up to the fact that they have decling sales not due to piracy, but because the product their members are pushing sucks. It's time for American consumers to really start demanding better.
The "product" is music (or videos.) If the product sucks, why do people want to steal it without paying for it? I do not steal garbage, not sure why anyone would bother.

The issue is recording artists would like to be paid for their music, and the companies that publish the music, press the CDs, distribute them, label them, promote them, do not do so simply to make people smile. They do it for income. It's a business, not charity.


Ed

[KA8NCR]

Quote[/b] (W5HTW @ Jan. 22 2006,20:29)]
Quote[/b] ]
The "product" is music (or videos.) If the product sucks, why do people want to steal it without paying for it? I do not steal garbage, not sure why anyone would bother.


The fact is that most people do not steal music. The iTunes music service continues to serve up record numbers of downloads. This is due to two factors; the first that people demand an easier way of getting their music and paying for it, downloading it and burning it to their own media sure beats the hassles of running to the mall. Second, it allows the consumer ultimate control over the purchase. No longer are they saddled paying $18 for a CD with one or two decent songs when they can purchase the songs they want.

The rampant piracy the RIAA and MPAA touts as the means of their demise has _always_ been illegal. New laws won't change the illegality of what they fear, it only removes the rights of those who abide by the laws. Really, do we need a law that states claw hammers shall only be used to drive nails and, only with the reverse side, remove them and that they shall never be used to break windows in order to gain unlawful entry into homes?

The problem that the RIAA and MPAA has is that both have not been able to get their government (both parties are responsible here) interested in dealing with the sticky wicket of intellectual property rights. China, Russia, India are all hotbeds of piracy and neither the Bush nor the Clinton administrations were willing to really apply pressure to solve it. Consequently, the punishment is exacted on the customers of the recording and motion picture industries.

Quote[/b] ]
he issue is recording artists would like to be paid for their music, and the companies that publish the music, press the CDs, distribute them, label them, promote them, do not do so simply to make people smile. They do it for income. It's a business, not charity.


It's a dirty business too.

The record companies usually sign artists under onerous contracts (1). They use independent promotion companies to push new artists for air-time and resort to pretty much pay-to-play tactics. The record companies are usually under no obligation to pay ASCAP/BMI fees that everyone else in the world has to pay for use of the music they distribute.

I agree, they're in it to make money. And admittedly, they take significant risk when they sign an artist. But they shouldn't be able to assign the liability of the risk they take upon the general public. Nor should they try to hold everyone in the public accountable for the crimes of a few. Worse, they're perfectly happy holding the consumers of this country technologically back in the 1980's so they can maintain an arcane business model.

I've seen it proposed before; a revolt by the consumer where certain sectors are targeted that derive their business from purely discretionary spending. The RIAA/MPAA fit squarely into that category.

I for one would love to see the consumers of this nation say "hey fellas, y'all are eatin' ramen noodles until you get your collective heads out into the open air".

(1) Courtney Does the Math
http://www.jdray.com/Daviews/courtney.html

[K9YLI]

Why should someone that makes $10 and hour pay a ridiculous price for a recording so the "artist " can make 10 million a year.
Sports are no different. maybe $25 a seat to see a game so player can make a million a year.
Not from me.
When a salary cap is put on jocks and "artists " of 10 times the average pay in the US maybe sales of thses things will go up.
You may have noticed that many sports parks are mostly empty during the seasons.
Just like Detroit, they have priced themselves out of a job.

[KD7WHQ]

I've been watching this game play up since 1981

$5.95 bought an LP. Queen's "Night at the Opera" came out, it was $8.95 from that point on.

The kicker was, the artist didn't collect appreciably anything more, but the label did.

Then it went up from there.

Actual manufacturing cost of an LP at that point in time was literally $.25. Jacket and inner liner included.

With CD's now, it's down from that. Plastic is cheap. Dirt cheap, especially when you figure the amount per item.

So, the artists are getting a set percentage, varying by contract.

Who is really out the money? The guys in the richly paneled offices for the most part.

Really cutting in on their boat payments.


The level of sharing to date, I don't believe has any real effect on what would be the bottom line income. Still far enough there to bring us the next head banging rapper/name your dislike.

But, they claim that it will hurt in finding new bands. Pah.

The income falloff, as noted priorly, is due to the content.

The mall rats can only carry them so far..

[KG4CGC]

The way I see it. They want you to purchase a separate licsence for each media of the same music. One for a CD, one for the iPod another for the same on DVD.
Boycott them all. Problem is, how do get people to boycott unless you really get them outraged. Kids are being taught in school that to be outraged is a crime.

[al2n]

They can change formats all they want.

The kids these days will have the hack to the "locked" format before it even hits the shelves.

[KC0KBH]

I've actually seen very few CD's with more than 2 or 3 good songs. The ones I have seen with 1 or 2 songs I don't know are The Eagles- The Very Best Of, disc 1 and 2, Def Leppard, Best Of, R.E.M, In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988-2003, ELO, Greatest Hits, ELO, New World Record, and a lot of LP's. I haven't found many "greatest hits" with the artist's greatest hits. Usually they have left out a few that I would really appreciate if it were on it. I don't download music illegally. I remember a few years back someone in Minneapolis that got fined big for downloading not a whole lot of songs. I have Yahoo Music Unlimited, and pay for it, myself. I really like it. Unless I wanted a non iPod, I could listen to it on an MP3 player, but, I'm fine listening to it on the computer. In fact, right now, I'm listening to something from our CD collection, R.E.M., In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988-2003. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/cool.gif

[KC0KBH]

Quote[/b] (KD7WHQ @ Jan. 23 2006,16:54)]-snip-
The level of sharing to date, I don't believe has any real effect on what would be the bottom line income. Still far enough there to bring us the next head banging rapper/name your dislike.

But, they claim that it will hurt in finding new bands. Pah.

The income falloff, as noted priorly, is due to the content.

The mall rats can only carry them so far..
I don't know how and new "artist's" "music" can even be called music. It kind of crap (engrish quote) http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif ! My younger brother listens to this "Green Day", and it is just terrible. I can't stand it. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sad.gif I would list what I all have on my iPod, but it is too long (1200 songs). The newest thing I have on the thing is R.E.M. Probably next newest is either Def Leppard, or Great White. Oldest is either The Band or Bob Dylan. I have a lot of artists on it. I can't tolerate listening to the local rap stations or the like, though a lot of my age group does. Plus, the sound is so nice when you listen to the song off of an LP. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif