IFPI Erases Evidence Of Fascist Roots For 75th Anniversary
Written by enigmax on April 08, 2008Any organization reaching a major anniversary would be proud of this fact, with press releases, interviews and celebration. The IFPI hasn’t said anything about reaching its 75th birthday. Instead, one of their staff has edited their Wikipedia page to keep their roots a secret. So what exactly do they want to hide?
International organizations with fine traditions don’t normally miss an opportunity to celebrate anniversaries. It’s also common practice to inform the public about their founding and history on their websites. This is not the case when the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) celebrates its 75th anniversary this year. How come? Thanks to Copyriot, here is the story that the IFPI wants to hide from the world.
In 1933 the phonographic industry held a congress in Rome, Italy, to form an international federation. The fact that Italy had been a fascist dictatorship for eleven years under Benito Mussolini, wasn’t something that bothered them.
On the contrary, the IFPI returned to fascist Italy for the next congress, held in the northern tourist resort of Stresa in 1934. Specially invited was CISAC, the France-based International Confederation of Authors and Composers Societies. They had heavily opposed the IFPI’s goal in giving the phonographic producers rights of their own within the framework of the Berne convention, since they feared this would lessen the composers’ rights. At the meeting in Stresa, the IFPI convinced CISAC to support an alternative line, where the record companies’ rights would be guaranteed in a special convention.
However, CISAC emphasized that this protection were not to be constructed so that the artists’ rights are diminished. The Italian government also showed interest for such a solution of the issue and had a special commission put forward a convention draft on the subject.
Memo from Swedish Department of Justice, 1953
This quote shows it wasn’t just the Mediterranean climate that made the IFPI organize its first activities in fascist Italy. The regime provided especially good support for their lobbying cause.
After the preparations had been made through detailed debates within the jurisprudence, the Rome active International Institute for Unification of Private Rights made the initiative in 1939 to gather an expert committee that would put forward concrete proposals on the subject.
Memo from Swedish Department of Justice, 1953
The committee was headed by Dr.Ostertag and quickly proposed a draft. For a change - or maybe because Mussolini’s Italy at the time was on the verge of World War - the committee’s first meeting was held in Samedan in neutral Switzerland. The committee members were probably less than neutral. Since the committee members had been appointed by the judicial institute in Rome, we can safely assume they were loyal to the fascist regime.
The conclusion from the committee was a proposal to combine the rights of the phonographic industry and the rights of the ‘performers’ (i.e. musicians and actors) in one convention. This had a large impact on the continuing legislation that to this day in 2008, regulate the music economy.
The continued work on the Samaden proposals was postponed because of WW2. After the end of the war, the work was restarted within the permanent committee of the Bern union. This was first assembled in 1949 in Neuchâtel and it was decided to refer the Samaden proposals back to Bern union member states and other states for consideration. The following meeting was held in October 1950 in Lisbon and is essential to the continued development.
Lisbon? Why did the IFPI, five years after WW2, chose fascist dictatorship Portugal as the site to continue the work that had started in fascist dictatorship Italy?
It might have been a coincidence, but the convention texts that were put together with great efficiency during these meetings were far from obvious. On the contrary, they competed with parallel attempts to reach an international convention that would extend something resembling copyright to musicians, who were organized by ILO in close cooperation with the musicians’ labor unions. They cared less for the wishes of the phonographic industry. Rather, they strove to protect jobs for live musicians, who seemed threatened by the ‘mechanization’.
These intentions took time and were discussed in detail, but if they had been quicker it is very possible that the international copyright would’ve taken another direction, where musicians - not record companies - were seen as legitimate rights holders of the music that is played in radio and public speakers.
Now, this never happened. The expert commissions, assisted by the fascist regime in Italy, had been quicker - to the great joy of the phonographic industry. The Samaden proposal led to the ‘Rome Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organizations’, finally signed in 1961 and today a deeply integrated part of Swedish copyright law. It is thanks to this that record companies can claim outlandish damages against The Pirate Bay.
As opposed to music publishers, record companies don’t have copyright in the right meaning, but thanks to the Rome convention they have something called ‘neighboring rights’, that over time have come to be just as important.
In addition, we note how George H.C. Bodenhausen - one of the lawyers that during the 1950s developed the Rome convention - referred to fascist Italian laws on the subject (legislated during the war in 1941) as a model, “the most up-to-date legislation”.
This does not mean the Rome convention is ‘fascist’. However, it’s hard to disregard its strong characteristics of corporatism, which have made a strong impression on the copyright bureaucracy. It’s also important to remember that the musicians’ labor unions suggested an entirely different solution, which didn’t have the same institutionalized feeding of the record companies. Without suggesting that the IFPI as an organization had fascist sympathies, they strategically used the fascist regime’s anti-union stance and corporative policies during the 1930s. The outcome of this tug-of-war still characterizes how copyright policies are formed.
That the IFPI was founded in fascist Italy in 1933, is little know today. The information has previously been posted on Wikipedia:
It was formed /…/ during 1933 in Rome, Italy, under the fascist government of Benito Mussolini by companies mainly owned or controlled by General Electric in the United States of America
In April 2005, someone removed the mention of fascism but left the fact about where and when the IFPI was founded - until August 25th 2006. On that date, the Wikipedia page was edited by someone with IP address 195.40.39.2 who deleted all information about the IFPI having a history at all. That is how it’s remained on Wikipedia’s IFPI page until now.
The person who deleted the information about IFPI’s founding did it from IFPI’s headquarters in London. The IP address points there.
Why is the IFPI so scared of its own history that it tries to keep it a secret that 2008 is its 75th anniversary?
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59 Responses
HA! 1st
Why doesn’t this article surprise me?
lol, ifpi for the lose
Ouch…thats gotta sting!
http://www.ifpi.org/content/section_news/20080307.html
read this shit ‘people downloading will get malware, adware, spyware, virus, identity theft` well I don’t know a single person in the world that has ever got them from bit-torrent if they aint stupid
I read the Copyriot article yesterday and I’m glad it got translated into English. It contains lots of interesting facts and gives a good insight into the history of the IFPI. Thank you Copyriot for researching this and thanks TorrentFreak for publishing it.
IFPI 75th Anniversary.
Hmmm, i think it’s a good time for IFPI to shut down their business because lots of countries ignored them.
For IFPI, it’s not possible to shut down a torrent site, if they try, they will move their servers to the country where they allow torrenting 100%.
IFPI, I don’t think you’ll have 76th Anniversary LoL
They have been around for 75 years and haven’t done anything except pissing people off… 75 years of FAILURE!
This part of IFPIs history fits seamlessly into the economic concept of ‘corporate order’ promoted by fascism. In the aftermath of the great depression probably an appealing idea to some. Later the italian fascists even had one part of the parliament replaced by corporates. Doesn’t this sound familiar?
Well … their attitude haven’t been changed in that 75 years.
Haha, federation of losers.
Not long now, better find new jobs guys, we win.
Well…they say that organisational culture sticks and is hard to copy.
Clearly thats the case.
I looked up the IP that edited the wiki and it came from none other than IFPI
The wiki diffs note that saying “fascist Italy” isn’t NPOV. And an IFPI employee editing the article on the IFPI is?
Everyone knew the they were rogue bastards, but no everyone knew they were fascist rogue bastards (including me)!
Thanks TF!
http://www.ezee.se/
It’s on p2pnet.net
http://www.p2pnet.net/story/15531
Here is the ORIGINAL, WELL-RESEARCHED ifpi article on Wikipedia, not the crap we have there now.
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=IFPI&direction=prev&oldid=12494615
“So what exactly do they want to hide?”
That they are all gay-people, and only want to steal my money for some shitty record! FUCK YOU IFPI! You can lick my balls and THEN I´ll give you 2 cent…
Nice day to the rest og you :-)
/Pantonamia
Delete this article! This exposes our company and hurts our good reputation, we demand this article be taken down at once!
Oh and were gonna sue all you guys.. just because we can.. and you owe us 4.2 billion.. bye now.
- IFPI
‘Dont even THINK about file sharing’
I dont see what this has to do with Al Gore.
Ive already confirmed with dad, and he says that every single person whos ever worked for the IFPI will not be allowed in his kingdom.
oh, and he has a message for them as well: ” Rot in hell you greedy dipshits.” - God
Haha I love it! IFPI revisionist bastards! TorrentFreak FTW
And what does this have to do with BitTorrent?
Yet 75 years ago, we were in a depression.
How times have changed.
75 years ago women had little freedom.
75 years ago racism was huge.
How fast things can change. Of course this does not apply to companies which have had several major makeovers, change of laws, business models, and so on.
@ # 1 precisely. well said.
“In April 2005, someone removed the mention of fascism but left the fact about where and when the IFPI was founded - until August 25th 2006. On that date, the Wikipedia page was edited by someone with IP address 195.40.39.2 who deleted all information about the IFPI having a history at all. That is how it’s remained on Wikipedia’s IFPI page until now.”
I went through the torrentfreak archives to dig up some context for the dates stated in the article. August 25th 2006 was right after TPB released their first movie “Steal This Film” and the MAFIAA had a lot of bad press. The RIAA sued a dead man, the BPI mistreated children, the MPAA did not go after Gates, who admitted in the Wall Street Journal that he watched pirated movies. This came of course all in the wake of the disasterous failure against TPB and the rise of the pirates.
I think “revisionist bastards!” is in order.
what a shame the pirate bay didn’t post the history of the ifpi when they had control of the domain.
“IFPI - 75 years of failing”
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=IFPI&diff=prev&oldid=204264440
hah there it is
Here’s another one, rofl
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=IFPI&diff=202518414&oldid=202514227
Nice one TF. Show them fascist nazi pigs.
They want to cause a torrent site holocaust. Fight for your freedoms, free the music.
@4: I’m thinking the industry would make releases with virii and release them so they can make those claims.
No wonder since their methods hasn’t changed. And they still fight for the same wrong idea: certain small group of people is better than the rest of the world.
IFPI = International Fascism Preservation Institution
Here’s something from the wikipedia that has not yet been reverted.
[quote]Any company, firm or person producing sound recordings or music videos which are made available to the public in reasonable quantities is eligible for membership of IFPI. In those countries where there is a national group of IFPI or an affiliated organisation, potential members should first join the national body before seeking membership of IFPI.[/quote]
I do qualify for membership of IFPI. I’ll become a member and eat them up from the inside like a maggot.
High-quality reportage there, Enigmax.
Combining a ‘good read’ with historical content (& well-researched source matériel) made for a most interesting article.
=]
So? It was a sad footnote in history. It’s people like you that keep this relevant today.
Indians getting free money, Jews getting checks from people who’s grandfathers happened to be nazis,
Ancestors of slaves getting reparations.
Italy was run by a fascist government. Get over it. Companies worked for the government that happen to be around today. Get over it. If I was the president of the IFPI I would be ashamed too. Doesn’t mean he is evil. (wrong, not evil)
Pizza is famously thought to come from Italy. Pizza is as relevant today as it was back in fascist Italy.
Get the fuck over yourself. And start to report some real news you moron.
[quote comment="337196"]http://www.ifpi.org/content/section_news/20080307.html
read this shit ‘people downloading will get malware, adware, spyware, virus, identity theft` well I don’t know a single person in the world that has ever got them from bit-torrent if they aint stupid[/quote]
Wikipedia page re-edited - balance redressed. =]
P.S. “In March 2008, a Seattle court sentenced a man to four years in prison in the first Federal case against someone using file-sharing software to steal identities. Gregory Kopiloff had used the software to search users’ computers for personal financial documents which he used to commit aggravated identity theft to support drug and gambling addictions.”
LMFAO!
[quote comment="338230"]So? It was a sad footnote in history. It’s people like you that keep this relevant today.
Indians getting free money, Jews getting checks from people who’s grandfathers happened to be nazis,
Ancestors of slaves getting reparations.
Italy was run by a fascist government. Get over it. Companies worked for the government that happen to be around today. Get over it. If I was the president of the IFPI I would be ashamed too. Doesn’t mean he is evil. (wrong, not evil)
Pizza is famously thought to come from Italy. Pizza is as relevant today as it was back in fascist Italy.
Get the fuck over yourself. And start to report some real news you moron.[/quote]
Are 75 year old pizza companies (a) celebrating their diamond anniversaries or (b) going to extreme lengths to conceal such?
The point wasn’t that they once dealt with fascists; it was that they erased it from the history books.
That _was_ real news & _you_ are the moron.
HTH
HAND
kthxbai
How about linking the english translation of the full text on Copyriot?
http://copyriot.se/2008/04/08/what-the-ifpi-tries-to-conceal-about-its-origins-in-fascist-italy/
Should be on News sites all over Net
I could have sworn it said ‘Porno’graphic industry.
[quote comment="338230"]So? It was a sad footnote in history. It’s people like you that keep this relevant today.
Indians getting free money, Jews getting checks from people who’s grandfathers happened to be nazis,
Ancestors of slaves getting reparations.
Italy was run by a fascist government. Get over it. Companies worked for the government that happen to be around today. Get over it. If I was the president of the IFPI I would be ashamed too. Doesn’t mean he is evil. (wrong, not evil)
Pizza is famously thought to come from Italy. Pizza is as relevant today as it was back in fascist Italy.
Get the fuck over yourself. And start to report some real news you moron.[/quote]
Fascism is not a sad footnote in history. It’s alive today, because we all have the potential for it. Teach your people a concept of someone or something that evokes feelings of hatred or fear. Find a leader, throw in some nationalism, some populism and use Newspeak and you are on your way.
If you get over it, you are specially susceptible because you start to turn a blind eye. You can read up on how easy it is to become a fascist in “The Third Wave” ( http://www.ronjoneswriter.com/wave.html ). It’s a 2-3 page summary of a teacher and his class who tried fascism as a history lesson.
If the IFPI attempts to bury their roots during a fascist climate that can only mean that they themselves think it is still relevant today. They should spend their money to do proper research of where they come from. It would help the public to understand how fascism is not over when we don’t speak about it anymore. It lives on in organisations, where a corporate statement is all there is as a reason to exist and self-criticism would hurt the business.
Well considering the time frame, geographical location and the fact that they worked for the fucking government, A person with average intelligence would automatically come to the conclusion that it may have ties working hand in hand with a fascist government. The fact that they are “erasing it from the history books” is a moot point. Do you really honestly believe they should bring it up?
Is it something they are proud of? Probably not. So why would they go parading it around and telling everyone? I’m not saying erase it, just don’t be pissed they don’t want to bring it up.
On another note. I hear that the U.S used to believe in slavery. Please bring this fact up whenever one of the southern states celebrates a birthday.
Douchbag.
I have to ask…
What’s more greedy and sketchy at the end of the day. An industry of people that for the most part is made up of people working insane hours and investing personal risk into advancing art and culture…
Or a group of people with a misguided entitlement complex to the fact that they should receive all the end results of that for free based on reasons that for the most part are completely false, hyperbole, or based on the fact they paint an entire view of an industry with the same brush.
I’ve owned an indie record label for 15 years. Trust me, there’s great records you’re not hearing because it makes no financial sense to back them anymore. Why should I or the artist lose money? It makes more sense to license a song to a commercial and just listen to the album ourselves. We’re not obligated to release it or share it with anyone.
Anyway, I’ve broken my 5 minute rule of don’t bother trying to explain it… but there you go. I should also say that I don’t approve of the actions of a lot of trade bodies either and there heavy handed approach… so really all I’m saying is… support art or it disappears.
@40
It took you 5 minutes to write that non-topical diatribe? What did you do, go through 2 drafts before writing the final or something?
Though #39 was not directed at #38 I’ll say something anyway.
“Erasing it from the history books” is not a moot point. It’s the reason why we don’t learn from history. There might be some reason to cover up a fascist past to suppress the polarization of a society. But as we see in Spain, Greece and some countries in South America it takes decades to consolidate a society, after covering up fascism.
An organisation has no bearing at all to botch with history books. It’s not theirs to scribble or wipe. The history book is ours.
And yes, I really honestly believe they should bring it up. They had time enough. They should have brought it up long ago. There was no need to wait for an anniversary. Now, someone else brought it up*). How stupid of a corporate strategist are you allowed to be to get a job at IFPI? Do you really honestly believe it’s good enough to pay some pawns to edit the wikipedia? Alone the idea you could “erase” something when there is internet is foolish.
*) Thanks Copyriot and Torrentfreak. Good work.
P.S.
I posted not the link I wanted to in the last comment. This here should be the original ( http://www.vaniercollege.qc.ca/Auxiliary/Psychology/Frank/Thirdwave.html ) of “The Third Wave”.
#40
I aim for what I desire via the path of least resistance. Who doesn’t?
Why should I *care* about what YOU want? The world is, and quite contrary to your doomsayer beliefs, awash with media. I’d argue there’s never been more media available out there than there is right now (thanks in no small part to the internet and file-sharers). Why should I care about supporting a few dying ends incapable of existing in the current enviroment? It might be a hard pill to swallow, but nobody owes you anything. People like you want control for personal gain and you’re upset because you’re finding it too hard to attain.
#43
Point is that you’re not producing the media are you?
It’s not a hard pill for me to swallow. I still make plenty of money in the music business, just that the recorded sector is dying. And more and more people are getting out of it. You’ll see the effect soon. You’re right, nobody owes me anything. But the same logic applies that artists don’t owe you shit. And at a certain point why should they bother to lose money on something so everyone can have it for free.
It’s not doom-saying, it’s pointing out that the environment will be what you make it. You don’t want to support, people don’t owe you shit. And knee-jerk reactions like the ones on this board to what is pretty much a non-relevant article about anything happening today in music is symptomatic of the the fact that everyone’s just looking for excuses to justify their greed for the most part.
So I say it again… before you go and paint the music business as greedy… look at your habits first.
#43…
Also I don’t aim for the path of least resistance as you do (and suggest everyone does)… I aim for the path of personal moral choice. Which isn’t to say yours is any worse or better… I just believe that if you’re a fan of a band than it’s worth giving something back.
[quote comment="339204"]#43…
Also I don’t aim for the path of least resistance as you do (and suggest everyone does)… I aim for the path of personal moral choice. Which isn’t to say yours is any worse or better… I just believe that if you’re a fan of a band than it’s worth giving something back.[/quote]
Most people want to give something back to the band. I want to pay for some of the music I have downloaded. But I can’t. There’s no way I can contact the band to give them money.
Why can this be done?
It’s disgrace. Their conduct mirrors an oppressive delusional State (now extinct).Please die
[quote comment="337600"]“So what exactly do they want to hide?”
That they are all gay-people, and only want to steal my money for some shitty record! FUCK YOU IFPI! You can lick my balls and THEN I´ll give you 2 cent…
Nice day to the rest og you :-)
/Pantonamia[/quote]
Homophobe.
#45/46
Believe me I’m not oblivious to your position. I could see me saying much the same thing if in a similar position.
The BPI had it right in ways when they said file-sharing is (or has become, which isn’t really true, as it’s always been…) too easy. It is really, and it’s apparent presupposed levels of morality just don’t cut it as an effective regulator of your ‘consumer’ habits.
As much as you might like to preserve aspects of your old established systems, if they’re proving non-viable in the new enviroment then they need to adapt or die. You can’t roll back time to before change ocurred (the evolution of technology), you can only evolve along with it. You could strive for technological solutions, new laws, education, and so on if you believe they’ll help, though personally I’m less than confident any of these will revert things back to your liking.
Anyone notice how there’s people trying to disconnect the IFPI from italian fascism? I think that’s the young fascists of today, trying to have their movement not have anything to do with the IFPI.
And that’s how much they are genuinely hated.
excellent article
you are getting real good, dude
well done
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