Editorial: Protect the Consumer from the RIAA!

[Audioholics]

<A href="http://www.audioholics.com/news/editorials/RIAADRMconsumers.php"><IMG style="WIDTH: 125px; HEIGHT: 84px" alt=[Photo1] hspace=10 src="http://www.audioholics.com/news/thumbs/Photo1_th.jpg" align=left border=0></A>"The terminator is out there. It can’t be bargained with. It can’t be reasoned with. It doesn’t feel pity, or remorse, or fear." For thousands of years people looked the other way as folks made copies of other people's work – by hand, by printing press, by copier, by disc. Content producers weren't happy but the U.S. Supreme Court determined there was such a thing as fair use – making a backup copy of content for yourself. That was loosely interpreted to mean you could make a backup copy of your videotape. You could make a copy of an audio tape to CD so you could play on your personal player, in the car, or...

[Read the Editorial]

 

[corey]

This is the best piece I've read on Audioholics.

It's not just the damage they have done to music distribution, but also the damage they have done to our hobby. If it wasn't for DRM issues, our Hi Res audio would get to our receivers through standard digital inputs, rather than 6 separate wires; and video would get to our displays without an ever changing HDMI standard.

Quote from the article:
"Have you ever seen how much the real music creator gets from the sale of a song on a disc? Have you ever studied the creative accounting by MPAA members?"

This would make a great follow up article, as well as how much a band nets off a $.99 music download.

 

[stratman]

HOW do you beat the "machine"?? I don't use iTunes or any downloadable services, all my music is in CD format that I bought at the music store and downloaded into my NAS.

I guess folks downloading MP3s and video content will suffer. I guess, technically speaking, if I make a copy of a music CD or a compilation of songs and give it away to my friend I'd be breaking the law, right? So fair use applies to a back up for personal use only? This is so convoluted.

Here's one for the books: What about DJs playing music at clubs or weddings or parties? I would assume they're breaking the law, but I can't recall ever hearing of a DJ getting busted on copyright infringement.

 

[Rock&Roll Ninja]

You aren't allowed to play Sirius or XM satellite radio in a restaurant either
I believe you also aren't supposed to play CDs there either.

 

[Nestor]

You aren't allowed to play Sirius or XM satellite radio in a restaurant either
I believe you also aren't supposed to play CDs there either.

In Canada, you can, but you have to pay SOCAN a yearly license fee to do so.

 

[stratman]

You aren't allowed to play Sirius or XM satellite radio in a restaurant either
I believe you also aren't supposed to play CDs there either.

Yup, you can't play CDs or music (in a restaurant) without a license from ASCAP, I know this due to the fact that I designed a restaurant in Coral Gables (city next to Miami)and the owner (an attorney)was very careful about that, he delt with a company licensed by ASCAP which supplied the music content with a license. He said he knew of a couple of cases where ASCAP reps had actually gone into retaurants to see if they were complying with regs(they weren't) and the restaurant owners were fined.