I'm so glad i have an elaborate plan to destroy the music industry. IT's at 18 pages already, and this makes me want to work on it, expand it, and refine it some more.

I just sucks that my livelyhood is music. meh.

Quoted for truth.

that reminds me of a lawyer joke that can easily be adapted to this situation:

1: did you hear that they're usuing RIAA employees instead of lab rats now?
2: really?
1: yeah. people like them less, and it turns out there are some things even rats won't do.

SINKING SHIP!

Makes me glad I'm not human.

on what grounds can they sue? There is no profit in any of it for the kids doing it, therefore no money is being made...

I don't know how many of you remember but back in the 90's they sued the boyscouts and girl scouts of america for singing songs at camp outs because the children did not pay to sing the songs...

the next group they go after will probably be people who sing in their cars

So what would happen is all intellectual property became public domain after 10 years?

Wow. To be pendantic, the sound on these videos is poor at best, difficult to copy and not being used to profit the producers (mostly).

The one group which is out for profit is the site, and apparently their only option is is removal as the RIAA hasn't offered some sort of mass liscensing deal. Of course, given how the RIAA is greedy and unreasonable, it's likely YouTube hasn't asked for one. I'm not even sure they have the money to pay for it at this point.

The RIAA is clearly having it both ways here - they let the videos do some viral marketing for the songs for a while, then they use the C&D as viral marketing for the RIAA's omnipotence.

Here's the thing - they're trying to scare consumers into compliance with laws which are not completely settled. Even recent changes in copyright law contain gray areas and wiggle room like fair use. The RIAA is trying to use intimidation and courtroom manuevers to set the rules. Their also working to change the law below the radar.

I understand trying to ensure artists get paid but this is bullshit.

For example, fair use covers music excerpts which appear naturally in documentaries, but the RIAA has intimidated filmmakers into liscensing everything. The makers of Mad Hot Ballroom had to cut a scene where a kid sang the words, "Everybody dance now!" See here:
http://www.onthemedia.org/transcripts/transcripts_051906_fairusefollies.html
And a lawyer's reaction on the real law here:
http://www.onthemedia.org/transcripts/transcripts_051906_cloudyfair.html

The law says that you can use fragments of copyrighted material for a variety of purposes, including news reporting, commentary, criticism. I think an argument could be made YouTube videos might fall under this - as long as they don't use the whole song. Or maybe even if they do.

No I don't like the RIAA up in me,
They rape my people as they rape my country,
Everything I love and cherish, they try to take away,
We will be rid of them, soon come the day.

Whoop just got a cease and desist order.

I hope this means no more attention starved adolescents uploading stupid webcam videos making asses of themselves dancing rediculously.

Am I the only one who sees the bright side?

Not just the RIAA, but the MPAA and the game/software industries keep trying to market stuff that no one wants to buy, and then mistaking falling profits to an increase of piracy. More goes into piracy countermeasures and lawsuits, and less goes into the product, making an even worse product which sells even less, which is of course "due to piracy".

Eventually, this should lead to the death of the industries... but how long that takes depends on how long people will keep buying things from people who treat them like criminals. Could you imagine going to the supermarket and needing to ask the attendant to unlock the glass cabinet with the milk? What if you get home and your cereal box requires you to go online and validate your receipt before you can open the box? Then you would finally get the box open, and theres only half the cereal because the other half of the box was needed to fit a device that unpoisons the cereal when you validate online. Then the cereal is shitty because there was no money left to clean the cereal-making machine.

This is what we go thru for videogames, and its totally unacceptable. Soon movies will be the same, and iTunes is already leading the way in fucking up the music you pay for so you can't use it normally. The only solution is not to pay for any of it. Whether you steal it, or learn to live without is up to you... the way I look at it is I'm already being treated like a criminal, I might as well get the perks of being one too. But please, don't give your money to these people. The more you do that, the more we have to put up with this.

this defies logic

Arrg...I'm a pirate! The only time that I ever buy music is at shows. I know that my 5 or 10 bucks is feeding the band or putting gas in their van, in addition to giving me some new kick ass tunes to listen to. And I love getting a burned cd with the bands name scrawled across it with a sharpie...diy bands are so awesome...

Anyway, we all know that the fatcats who work for the RIAA don't really give a shit about the artists or music that they are "defending." They and the whole corporate music industry are the ones truly practicing piracy-on the consumers and the artists.


I wonder if all those home videos I have with copyright protected music playing in the background are going to get me arrested? I mean that video I posted a year ago of 15 people drunkenly singing along to Bohemian Rhapsody must have cost Queen millions by now, right?
/sarcasm

I bought that album after I saw that video. No shit. Free advertizing. I mean, how the fuck else would I have heard that band????

what a bunch of dumbasses

Doesn't the RIAA issue a Cease & Desist order to anybody displaying creativity in a music video?


The RIAA appears to be doing their damndest to self destruct, but unfortunately they're incompetent at that, as well.