The RIAA Armageddon has begun

Mickey got off easy, in retrospect.

He did make that movie, though.

Okay, whatever you may think of RIAA tactics before, this is crazy.

Now, in an unusual case in which an Arizona recipient of an RIAA letter has fought back in court rather than write a check to avoid hefty legal fees, the industry is taking its argument against music sharing one step further: In legal documents in its federal case against Jeffrey Howell, a Scottsdale, Ariz., man who kept a collection of about 2,000 music recordings on his personal computer, the industry maintains that it is illegal for someone who has legally purchased a CD to transfer that music into his computer.

The industry's lawyer in the case, Ira Schwartz, argues in a brief filed earlier this month that the MP3 files Howell made on his computer from legally bought CDs are "unauthorized copies" of copyrighted recordings.

* * * *

Whether customers may copy their CDs onto their computers -- an act at the very heart of the digital revolution -- has a murky legal foundation, the RIAA argues.

* * * *

At the Thomas trial in Minnesota, Sony BMG's chief of litigation, Jennifer Pariser, testified that "when an individual makes a copy of a song for himself, I suppose we can say he stole a song." Copying a song you bought is "a nice way of saying 'steals just one copy,' " she said.

Forget the legal arguments, which I suppose we can examine later. The RIAA's position -- not just in the abstract, but in an actually litigated pending case -- is that you violate copyright law when you burn a disc you personally bought, at full retail value, onto your own iPod. As a pure matter of business tactics, this seems crazy to me.

Ummmmm....fair use?

they've already backtracked on this.

They have? The WP article ran yesterday.

The Post got it wrong.

http://williampatry.blogspot.com/

I haven't read the RIAA Br., but from that blog post, it appears you're right. What an egregious -- and easily avoidable -- error for the Post to make.

2008: RIAA storms homes of people who copied Ripper '77 from vinyl to tape

What an egregious -- and easily avoidable -- error for the Post to make.

LOL what DOES the washington post NOT fuck up?!?

It'll be interesting to see if the disappearance of the music industry (if that event occurs) will be the advance wave of a fate to soon befall all media.

It'll be interesting to see if how the disappearance of the music industry (if that event occurs) will be the advance wave of a fate to soon befall all media.

The weirdest thing - when I posted that sentence, I thought, 'That sentence is so terrible, I wonder if J0hn will correct it'. I recall the last time he corrected one of my sentences, back in about 2003. At the time, I thought he was an English teacher. Anyway, J0hn, thanks for trying, but it's still a terrible sentence so let me try to again.

Music industry pundits have gamely tried to imagine models which could, in some way, monetise the digital distribution of music. Nothing seems to have worked so far. For example, until recently, some commentators were suggesting we look to the porn industry as an example of how to do business on the net. However, now that even the porn industry is having its own problems due to the propagation of free content on various high traffic amateur porn sites, that argument is harder to make. Also down the tubes, apparently is the notion that most bands can monetise touring on the back of internet promotion. Touring income for all but the very big acts appears to be down in 2007, with no signs of bouncing back. My impression (I read hundreds of tour budgets a year as part of my day job) is that most bands lose money on touring, or earn less than they would had they worked a low-paid job for the duration of the tour.

Stetching further back, before Myspace, discussions revolved around direct artist sales from their own websites, and how to construct a site to maximise custom. Also, there was the 'music like water' idea, also before Myspace, where people would subscribe to a service providing unlimited downloads at, say, $20 per month. That idea is fraught with obstacles, relying as it does on cooperation and agreement on the part of the RIAA and other orgnaisations and record companies. Attempts to monetise Myspace through Snocap have also gone down the tubes. Looking at the Prince and Radiohead stunts, even if we grant that either were successful as a commercial venture, it is not apparent that less well known artists could follow the same path. And so on.

To take these lessons and get really pessimistic, we could say that it is impossible to monetise digital distribution of content. If this is the case, it is a potential threat to all content providers whose product can be digitised. That would include music, porn, the press and all publishing, film, video and photography, and TV. The consequences of all those businesses disappearing, along with the music industry, would be interesting. Here it all gets very speculative. It would seem that search engines and social netowrking sites become very powerful insofar as they harvest a great deal of information,w hich they could then sell. That may be where the real internet money lies in the future. Where does that leave the artist? Who knows at this stage.

Feel free to correct any grammar or spelling mistakes you may find in that post. I believe there's at least one.

There was an interesting thread recently -- on ILM, I think -- about creative options for the music industry in the digital age (the thread was eMusic -- C/D, perhaps; I'm out now, so it's harder to search for it). Anyway, there were some innovative ideas, e.g., a Stock Market Model, a Patronage Model. I have no idea, obv., if these would work, but they're certainly worth further consideration, and they're better, PR-wise, than the RIAA suing its potential customer base.

I know that discussion is one step prior to where you begin your analysis, Moley, but it's in the same vein and was v. interesting.

Thanks Daniel - I think this is it:

EMusic - C/D

As for the majors, I doubt that they view patronage (or anything else involving good faith) as even a plan z but their relentless moustache-twirling is not only burning that bridge but irradiating and vacuuming the remains of the bridge; they're wearing out their stick before they've even planted the carrots. I wonder if a quasi-patronage model could work on a smaller scale, or if it is is already working on a smaller scale with say, 'indie' labels which have always had self-selecting fans and built-in good faith rhetoric working for it to some extent.

they will become content feeders for corporate advertising. the madonna sponsorship thing is just the first, it'll be like stock car drivers soon. or else ditch the role of the artist entirely and go to music created by genetic generative algorithms. there is no way to monetize digital distribution of content without DRM in hardware (and even then)

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2336/2219282175_83aa0cddec_b.jpg

A-

For anyone who's really interested in these cases, Recording Industry vs. The People covers them pretty comprehensively.

ARRR

it's particularly ironic that they'd mention 'let it be' in there; if they're talking about the film, that's one of the only places to fucking get it! it's hardly eating into the beatles' sales since they won't put it on dvd legally.

shocked, I tells ya

http://blog.wired.com/music/2008/02/riaa-training-v.html

http://gizmodo.com/358648/leaked-riaa-training-video-find-pirates--find-crack+dealing-terrorist-murderers-too

I'll have my CD with. Whatever you've got - drugs, a couple of guns... say, can you hook me up into your criminal network? What's that? I'm now a high ranking executive in the music industry? That's great! Let's party with what's left of our coke budget! Actually, you know what, just keep the CD, it's worthless anyway.

large-scale piracy of DVDs is just another black market commodity. it's not surprising that you'd get drugs and other stuff going through the same channels, and it's not surprising that hezbollah or whoever would be involved in those channels, that's how they make their money

now i'm imagining hezbollah recording an album full of international smash hits, netting them millions -- it would be like that movie about the internet murderer where every website hit injects more poison into his victim or whatever -- "please, america!! stop listening to this infectious music! every CD you buy endangers the lives of us all!" -- until the govt. realize they can stop this insane money mill by encouraging rampant piracy

You're saying Nickelback should be deported, right? OTM.

Any chance of the Israelis following a policy of targetted assassination of members of Nickelback?

the ironing

http://torrentfreak.com/riaa-keeps-settlement-money-080228/

ironing_4_u.jpeg

Potential turnabout.

Their probable future strategy:

http://yro.slashdot.org/yro/08/03/15/2243235.shtml

Glad people are paying attention to this.

Shocked, I tells ya! (again)

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080326-riaa-andersen-attorney-should-only-get-10-of-requested-fee.html

WOW

Holy Shit!

From Gizmodo:

The RIAA and MPAA have submitted a plan to the Office of Intellectual Property Enforcement. It's basically a plan that they want the government to enact, and it's terrifying.

Here are some of the lovely things that they're calling for:

* spyware on your computer that detects and deletes infringing materials;
* mandatory censorware on all Internet connections to interdict transfers of infringing material;
* border searches of personal media players, laptops and thumb-drives;
* international bullying to force other countries to implement the same policies;
* and free copyright enforcement provided by Fed cops and agencies (including the Department of Homeland Security!).

Is this possible?

probably not

File sharers=Terrorist

Yeah, its not going to ever happen, but imagine the balls to even ask.

exactly

"* spyware on your computer that detects and deletes infringing materials;"

I can't even imagine how this would work. . . .

love these fucking guys

Imagine the lines at the Canadian border when the enforcers have to go through every iPod song-by-song to check for infringement.

if you start your bargaining high enough you might get something passed that's not quite as bad but would have seen to be too extreme if you had asked for that in the first place. That's the reasoning behind it.

* spyware on your computer that detects and deletes infringing materials

How would such spyware determine what mp3's/mpeg's a user has downloaded and what ones he's ripped himself for personal use? These organizations have really shit the bed this time.

"* spyware on your computer that detects and deletes infringing materials;"

I can't even imagine how this would work. . . .

Probably pretty simple, they have programs in commercial use even now that can detect a track and detect whether it is a commercial recording or not, and then take automated steps to get rid of it. If you have ever uploaded a video with a commercial song to youtube in the past few years, it gets taken down within minutes.

I'm sure all they would need to do is search for the itunes purchase tag or whatever kind of DRM is supported by the companies paying into the program, and it could work!

But what about stuff that you burned yourself from CDs/LPs? Or would it just indescriminantly delete that?

they want you to buy from itunes etc not rip your own cds. They want you to buy it twice.

How would such spyware determine what mp3's/mpeg's a user has downloaded and what ones he's ripped himself for personal use?

This is the biggest problem, and perhaps the scariest. What if they took this method:

"Any authorized content needs to have this encrypted code embedded in the file. The RIAA and MPAA both mandated this code in all of their products, therefore, if your binary file does not have the code, it could potentially be an illegal file."

It would be one more step towards eliminating the freedom of production that the internet has democratically given to the entire world. The solution, of course, would be to dump the internet before it becomes something like cable TV, and go underground yet again. I bet there are plenty of hackers ready and willing to work on such a system.

Looking at the book "Bob Dylan: The Recording Sessions, 1960-1994" on google books, it says The Boxer is the first track where he doubled his vocals. so '69 or '70.

xp haha, yeah he said it. but you'd have to have some serious blinders on to be a world famous recording artist and not know about that stuff. his vocals are doubletracked on "the boxer," recorded in 1970.

oh there you go. of course, that might be the producer just taking two vocal takes, not like it's an amazing overdub job. i like the idea of dylan hearing it with the two vocals and thinking: "who is that other dude singing with me"

this is interesting...

Dylan and producer Tom Wilson were soon experimenting with their own fusion of rock and folk music. The first unsuccessful test involved overdubbing a "Fats Domino early rock & roll thing" over Dylan's earlier, acoustic recording of "House of the Rising Sun," according to Wilson. This took place in the Columbia 30th Street Studio in December 1964.[1] It was quickly discarded, though Wilson would more famously use the same technique of overdubbing an electric backing track to an existing acoustic recording with Simon & Garfunkel's "The Sound of Silence". I

never knew that but now I want to hear it.

sometimes I think I really need to hear Self Portrait. Dylan doing Paul Simon lol

I wonder if dylan was actually there though or ever heard it, or if wilson just did it on his own like he did with SoS
xp

i'm sure after he dies there'll be some big reveal about dylan avidly posting on yahoo groups about the civil war.

he went on rec.music.dylan o/w a few times in the 90s

i am bob dylan

How big is your penis

Have you been to Manhattan, and if so, what was it like

i mean, i usually don't like to talk about "being bob dylan"; it feels tacky, like i'm bragging.

It's ain't braggin' if it's true.

I think I know what's going on here. 1) Pat Finn started out on burgundy. 2) He soon hit the harder stuff. 3) Weird, off-the-wall posting on a message board.

yeah i thought i would be able to follow up the "i am bob dylan" comment with some funny posts. but i've got nothing.

Just confess that you--Bob Dylan--are addicted to youtube videos of celebrities falling off stages, and you'll be okay.

that Juan Gabriel fall remains one of the funniest things ever

i like this video, i think it was posted here at some point, where nickleback walk onstage at a music festival and the lead singer tries to pump up the crowd saying "are you ready to rock?" or something, and it is just dead silent, no response from the audience. after a few minutes the band storms offstage, giving the middle finger to the crowd. i, bob dylan, watch that video every morning in order to laugh and "jolt" myself out of my morning depression.

http://yro.slashdot.org/story/13/05/08/1533205/former-demonoid-members-receive-email-claiming-resurrection-get-malware-instead?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed

I got said email, luckily i didn't open it.

same here.

How worried should I be if I got a copyright infringement notice from my internet provider (A+and+)?
I've never gotten anything like that and I must say I'm feeling kind of distraught.

don't be, stop sharing the specific file(s) they called you out for, maybe avoid sharing files you get from wherever you got those files in general. probably best to avoid uploading anything you could potentially get a notice for for awhile.

pretty amazing http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/oct/25/filesharing-site-anti-piracy-honeypot-uploadertalk-user-data

Got a DMCA takedown notice for a song that was 100% wrote by me and I and recorded every instrument on it, which is a first for me!

weird. was it called "stairway to heaven" or something?

The file named I Love You But You Don't Love Me Back.mp3 is identified by the key (wnho6vndab12bkk).

Is there a song also called this that I am unaware of? It's a slow droney gospel sort of thing with those being the only lyrics.

I sent a counterclaim to Mediafire but who knows if anything will happen. I should probably just stop using it altogether and go w Soundcloud/Bandcamp.

"old man down the road"

curious...

https://www.google.com/search?q=wnho6vndab12bkk

Oh great, apparently my files are listed in file crawler websites. I swear to god neither I.love.you.phillip.morris.ts.md.german nor [4shared,mp3] 09 Doctor Jones (Antiloop Club Mix).mp3 are on my mediafire account.

wow adam, thats pretty intense ..

must have felt very strange and yet, exciting ?

as it means you are on some filtering list of value.

in the glory days of blogging, i posted many a track that i was borderline with and never had a takedown notice ...

i always wanted one to print and frame ..

one day.

xpost.

Hotfile to pay Hollywood studios $80m damages in filesharing settlement

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/dec/04/hotfile-hollywood-filesharing-damages-mpaa

hotfile still exists?

oh i guess it doesn't now

Got a DMCA takedown notice for a song that was 100% wrote by me and I and recorded every instrument on it, which is a first for me!

― Emperor Cos Dashit (Adam Bruneau), Thursday, November 21, 2013 11:59 AM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I had this happen too, and the claim came from an act I'd never heard of. And when I contacted mediafire about it they said they fixed it, but they didn't.

BMG and Round Hill Music (whoever they are) are suing Cox Cable for not disconnecting users at the behest of the music industry, Cox says that "infringement" needs be proven before they disconnect someone.

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/11/music-publishers-finally-pull-the-trigger-sue-an-isp-over-piracy/

My favorite sentence from the music industry flacks:

In their complaint, the music publishers describe the Cox network as an out-of-control den of piracy. "Today, BitTorrent systems are like the old P2P systems on steroids," BMG lawyers write.

Not to mention the potency of today's marijuana...

A new generation of Super Piraters

http://www.engadget.com/2014/12/09/swedish-police-raid-the-pirate-bay-and-knock-the-site-offline/

You know, just a couple of days ago I was sitting behind a late 50s/early 60s government worker on the bus and he was watching a pirated copy of Annie on his laptop. For a brief second I thought to myself that maybe I was just being too much of a prude about illegal downloading and hell, if this old guy is doing it then maybe I can do it too and save a couple of bucks on things that are difficult to rent or stream online. Then I realized that no wait, if this old guy is doing it then this is where the whole thing crashes to a halt.

how could you tell it was pirated?

Because it comes out 3 weeks from now?

not the old version then?

how could you tell he was a government worker?

I would have thought Why is a 60 yr old man watching that garbage? Especially when he could have downloaded Mr. Turner which also leaked in the wake of the Sony hacking.

xp: sorry, that was completely irrelevant info. But he had some kind of government id on a lanyard. Most people I ride in with are federal employees.

obviously an NSA worker embedding neural tracking programs into the film's pixels