mindless copying
Friday, October 9, 2009 by JCT
Downloading music off the internet is an issue much more complex than either being right or wrong. I personally think that music downloaded for personal use is done mindlessly in that we don't think deeply about what effects illegal downloading might be having on the artists and record companies. Arguably, stealing a cd from a store is not comparable to 'stealing' an mp3 from a file sharing web system as many people would argue the former constuties stealing moreso than the latter.
Easy accessibility to mp3 files on a web system which generally keeps equal access to its users is a disasterous mix for copyright and intellectual property laws. Perhaps it is not attainable to achieve piracy control with internet overflow and equal acessibility amongst users - maybe one of them has to go but the more realisitic option would be for the record companies to accept that music production and distribution techniques are changing and they too should adjust accordingly.
Radiohead are mentioned in this article http://leisureblogs.chicagotribune.com/turn_it_up/2009/10/future-of-music-summit-cant-we-all-just-get-along.html# as pioneers of using the internet to promote their albums by allowing a few songs to be downloaded for free, giving fans a teaser of what else to expect which boosts their album sales.
Record industries need to look to future changes and stop clinging to past policies if they want to maintain any rights.
Easy accessibility to mp3 files on a web system which generally keeps equal access to its users is a disasterous mix for copyright and intellectual property laws. Perhaps it is not attainable to achieve piracy control with internet overflow and equal acessibility amongst users - maybe one of them has to go but the more realisitic option would be for the record companies to accept that music production and distribution techniques are changing and they too should adjust accordingly.
Radiohead are mentioned in this article http://leisureblogs.chicagotribune.com/turn_it_up/2009/10/future-of-music-summit-cant-we-all-just-get-along.html# as pioneers of using the internet to promote their albums by allowing a few songs to be downloaded for free, giving fans a teaser of what else to expect which boosts their album sales.
Record industries need to look to future changes and stop clinging to past policies if they want to maintain any rights.