A Rant About Copyright Laws

[deviousterran]

Doom9’s news post on 11/20 brings to light a issue that I have posted about before: the playability of media on multiple devices. “Well, we've long known that the MPAA wants to charge us for every device we play content on…” says Doom9. AS I have suggested before, we might as well resign ourselves to accept this fact and begin buying content on the basis that once we own the content, we own the rights to do with it what we please. Admittedly, I cant fathom how this would be enforced but I for one would buy a DVD (or blue-ray disk or HD disk for that matter) if I were assured by the MPAA and RIAA that when a new format comes out, I wouldn’t have to spend my hard-earned money on a copy of something I already own. How can those organizations not see that this is a major clincher for many pirates? What motivation do I have for buying something knowing that that content will be obsolete in a matter of years and I will have to buy it all over again?
I’m not saying that the artists should sell the rights of the songs themselves… don’t misinterpret me here… but rather sell the right to the consumer to duplicate and preserve their media any way that the consumer chooses. Do away with the DRM’s and bulky copyright protection software (software, HA… try malware).
Again, this is an idea. I have no idea how it is to be implemented or enforced (my last ideas were so full of holes you could drain pasta with them), but each idea must be stated before it can be improved upon, and this is the ideal community to work with this idea. Obviously the total abolition of copyrights won’t work for the current institution (but we can still keep our fingers crossed) but we can try to work toward a compromise. The legislators aren’t coming up with any ideas and we don’t have the resources for the lobbyists that we need. So how about we try making a law of our own and get it proposed? Something the money-grubbing pencil-necks at the MPAA and the RIAA can grudgingly agree to. just a little bit of grandiose thinking on my part… hopefully I’m not totally off.

[Revgen]

I thought the DMCA mentioned that Fair Use is still intact.

You can decrypt a DVD as long as you own it and make a backup IIRC.

[DarkZell666]

I’m not saying that the artists should sell the rights of the songs themselves…Hey that's not a bad idea ;), at least the money would go to them (they did the hard work, remember ?).

Ok, producing music isn't as simple (you've got engineers, expensive hardware, advertising, etc.), but once you've realised artists hardly earn 1% of what their CD is worth ... you also realise that you're not buying their work but a permission from someone else who has the power (sad but true) to rape some extra money off you for the artist's work.

Rather than finding legal ways of owning media THAT SUITS THE CUSTOMER, they're just finding more illegal ways of owning media that SUIT THEMSELVES.

I like your idea though, deviousterran ;)

[mpucoder]

Don't take what I'm about to say the wrong way, I'm no fan of the recording industry, but...
When mp3's arrived so did websites to distribute music directly from the artists, many of these websites have gone away, many also remain. The direct distribution gives more money back to the artists, who, in turn, have their own production companies and associated costs, but at least have control over the money. That's the good part of it that everybody saw and loved. The bad part was the enormous amount of music suddenly available from so many unknown artists that the consumers were overwhelmed and didn't know what or who to buy, nor did they have the time to listen to an appreciable amount of demos to make decisions.
Like it or not the studio system has one advantage, and that is the screening process that eliminates so much music. Whether the studio decisions as to what is good or bad are correct is another story, but it does reduce the amount of music to that which can be promoted via free media (radio and television) and the consumer can audition.

[Doobie]

Like it or not the studio system has one advantage, and that is the screening process that eliminates so much music.

Popularity is self-fulfilling. The music industry creates big hits, not by picking the best music, but by eliminating the competition and then hyping what's left.

[setarip_old]

the screening process that eliminates so much music. Whether the studio decisions as to what is good or bad are correct is another story, but it does reduce the amount of music to that which can be promoted via free media (radio and television) and the consumer can audition.There are those of us who would call that censorship...

[foxyshadis]

Censorship is a very strong word to throw out. It's not censorship because they're not directly supressing any play that other artists would have enjoyed if the studio system didn't exist. Tapes get passed around, writeups show up in newspapers, etc, either way. Instead, it's manipulation of public opinion, some might even call it brainwashing, by creating an entire industry mirroring the fashion world's successful example.

Most people, however, simply don't have the appetite for that much music. I listen to 3-6 new cds (some legally downloaded, some bought, some loaners, some...) and a dozen or so singles a month, when around the world thousands are coming out in that time. Most people are kind of like that, or a little more or less. They want a pal who's always there to give them something good, a cool new tune or an old favorite. Today, that "pal" is the recording industry (and Clear Channel).

People are turning their backs of them because they've homogenized the industry to the point that only teens and folks who want to hear the same songs day in and day out can stand it, and keep handing you the same ten songs everytime you go back for more. XM and Sirius have become very popular, even though very few stations are dedicated to "everything out there", let alone unsigned bands (one XM rock channel), just because there's more than 5 short radio tracklists. (MTV and VH1 don't even count, CMT barely does.) Web radio as well, licensed or underground. The problem isn't that people want more music, it's that no one can discover the music that is out there anymore. None of it gets officially hyped, except in rows and rows of unknown artists at the music store.

People download and share because they know they won't be able to find any interesting new music without huge outlays of cash (or a cross-country club road trip). The industry's just lost touch with enough of their former userbase, who are going back to old methods for spreading good music. If they ever reconnect, then they might regain supremacy, but no technical or legal solution will prevent people from spreading good music.

Movies don't have the same kind of consumer alienation, very little of this applies to them.