This is even affecting sites like Youtube where they have the audio silenced if they violate such stupidity.

Really, this is just going too far with it. A lot of people torrent, no shit. But a good chunk of these people do it as a way of either getting the album sooner and getting it to preview it. I always buy albums that I enjoy as a way to show my support for the band.

Unfortunately, the musicians themselves are regarded no differently than the sheep of society, which instead of making fair gains on their own creations and hard work, are instead putting money in the pockets of big business.

The artist has been starved of money so badly, that they cannot finance legal to fight for their cause, so it is a vicious circle.

I propose to any group who is committed to making a future for themselves in music, to incorporate themselves and register each member as a publisher / partner in the corporation.

Look at it this way, if the shoe were on the other foot, and the artists were able to keep the majority of the money, the media industry would declare an all out war to get their cut.

A simple question for you.
If you could not get paid for your music, would you continue to write music?

If the answer is yes, then it will hardly be the end of music.

If the anser is no, I’d wonder whether you are truly an artist or simply another producer of “filler” music. True art will usually find an outlet regardless of monetary concerns.

It wouldn’t be the end of music at all. Not even close. There will always be tons of music available out there. Really, it’s tough titties if you can’t make it a profitable venture. That’s a reality you need to learn to live with, because the chances of you bending the mass of people to your particular way are unimaginably small.

P.S. You’d do well not to judge your average file-sharer based on comments you happen to read here.

The whole “I don’t pay for music because of the industry” argument really pisses me off as an artist, yeah sure, the fat cats gets a huge chunk of the pie as it is right now, but if no one buys music anymore, it will be the end, we depend on our costumers like any other business.

Personaly my production is mine and there is not way I will ever deal with these parasites.

Because once this “Copyright set to the lifetime of the artist” is enacted the MAFFIA will do a limited release of their experimental longevity treatments to all their artists/slaves.
Can you imagine a 300 years old Lars Ulrich? ;-)
The horror :D

But finally the parasites that form record companies can hopefully shut up and back off.

This plus the reduction of copyright laws could make the world a much better place.

i say we all actually revolt and go to there offices and tear them down.
what are they gonna do arrest 60 million people

Under what law? Is it not true that copyrights limit who can legally duplicate and distribute the content? Downloading is not duplication nor distribution, serving is. Downloading is the server duplicating and distributing the content to the downloader. The downloader cannot know whether the content they are downloading is being distributed legally or not, so how do you suppose a downloader can be held liable for copyright infringement?

If you are truly aware then please show me the law that expicitly states the act of downloading content in Britain as illegal.

In other words, having already been paid by the labels for ownership of the copyrights, this group would see all their copyrights snatched back by law, and all future artists limited to licensing their copyrights to record labels.
They don’t want future artists to be able to make the same deals they made. They want to remove the right of others to sell their copyrights permanently.

They also want a “use it or lose it” clause for all artists, which would force the labels to release not just digital recordings (easy enough) but also physical recordings. The labels would need to keep copies for sale of every single song they hold copyright to or lose the copyright they paid the artists for.
Given that production on demand, plus individual delivery costs more than mass production and store delivery, and physically holding mass produced batches of all CD’s for sale is likely impossible, this is effectively a snatching back of rights for artists with older or less popular songs (Billy Bragg for example).

Further, they want the rights to be paid for performance of a song, whether they own the copyright to the song or not. If they cover someone elses song, they feel that they are entitled to as much payment as the songs author everytime that song is used.
This would double the workload for the PRS which would cause an increase in license fees on its own. However, making double the payments would also double the license fees, or half the amount received by the actual copyright holders.
Any business that needs a license will suffer, radio stations, nightclubs, pubs, restaurants, youth clubs and others.

Finally, they want to take away what little “fair use” exists in the U.K., namely in “critical reviews”.

To grab some media attention they made some statements about how they don’t want to see downloaders facing criminal prosecutions, which they aren’t facing anyway. They are not calling for an end to downloaders being sued in civil cases, just an end to something which is not happening.

This is nothing more than moving the greed away from labels to the artists.

I don’t pay for music because I don’t want the RIAA to use my money for killing basic human rights!

If this new group supports free sharing and and dosen’t try to censor the internet, I will happily donate all money in my bank account to them!

It’s about time artists did this!

Using their language is exactly what the labels want you to do, and this new group is no better.

Unless you are facing a criminal prosecution (with evidence gathered by the police, and a real prosecutor, not just some opposing lawyer) then you cannot be “turned into a criminal”.
It’s highly unlikely that anyone will find themselves on the receiving end of a criminal prosecution for simple downloading. They may find themselves sued in a civil case, but civil cases do not carry the “criminal” label.

If everyone stops using the “criminal” word and starts pointing out the difference between civil and criminal cases, the mafiaa can only look more incompetent than they do already.

that’s pretty much the gyst of what Shadowstar694 said. give me a freaking break. downloading music off of bitorrent isn’t hurting recording artists any more than their record labels are. as others have stated here already, recording artists can record their music themselves and sell their music themselves, and if they’re really talented, then more and more people will find out who they are, and whether or not their music is really worth listening to. this isn’t a tough thing to figure out. record labels are most certainly on the way out, whether or not they know it.

When we listen to what we like/don’t like we ourselves become the A&R man.
We don’t need to have it dictated to us anymore in a pre-selected top 10 list.

As for all the other hanger ons and leeches in the industry – well they’ll just have to dust out that CV and start looking for jobs like the rest of the world does and go back to doing what they can to earn money, be it cleaning toilets or sucking dicks.

For instance, the FAC is not advocating for a reduction in the term of copyright in musical works to 35 years. Rather, they’re advocating that if ownership of the copyright has been transferred (for instance, to a label), it should automatically revert back to the artist after 35 years, so the artist can exploit it directly. They’re completely silent on the subject of term extension…and I’m sure they’d be happy to have the term of copyright last as long as possible if they’re the ones who are getting the royalties.

Similarly, the FAC is also advocating for an expansion of the “making available” right and other performers rights, so they receive royalties whenever music is downloaded or incorporated into other works.

Accordingly, it’s pretty clear that the FAC is not about tearing down the existing system…it’s about giving performing artists a bigger piece of the existing pie.

And real fans of the music will. Look at how much money Wikipedia raised recently. Raising money on-line is easy for causes which are judged to be worthwhile.

Also, the artists can still tour, and sell the ‘live experience’.

Of course. My only point here is that the music industry lobbyists are mostly lobbying for the suits not the artists.

A great deal of the artists involved are signed to major labels.

Reading between the lines, most want transparency – not to burn any fuckers to the ground. FAC have not yet made any explicit positioning statements.

Let’s come back in 6 months when they’re all lining up for term extension (with copyrights reverting to their ownership) and disconnecting those who use their music without permission.

RT
http://www.privacy.at.tc

They don’t marginalise local artists. What do you mean by that exactly?

Record companies allow artists to become international, narrowing the pool of music we listen to, and marginalising local artists. That doesn’t really serve anyones intersts but thier own and a few megalomanic artists egos. Good ridince.

FO with your dreams… this has nothing to do with dreams.. Tom Cruise gets millions per movie.. one movie is enough for a NORMAL person to retire on. This is about money.

without piracy the entertainment industry can DO and Charge however much they want. Should they succeed I promiss you end sales at a consumer level will not be at a REASONABLE/Discounted price.

People dont want CD’s, so they won’t buy them, people want to download their music, and the industry just needs to sort itself out of a hard-media designed mess, and figure out a way of making things work!

:)!

2010 is the year….

Down with the money hungry pigs.

Ppl say ppl are paranoid..?>..

Somone above posted a comment on how things in the music industry should all be split apart, but it is already.

You have A+R, who are in charge of talent development and sourcing, then you have the Labels (major or indie), you have independant managers, and liasing managers, then you have merchandising and promotion – this is without getting into the issue of studio staff, producers, technicians, engineers.. hell even the guy who packs the shit into a van at night and takes it to a secure lockup… how are they meant to get paid?

It’s ok to say “artists should do it for the work, not the money”, but there are thousands of other people who need paying aswell.

artists can bypass them and instead use the internet.

i would pay for their music if its cost is practical (read: no middleman).

Give it up RIAA, you are just delaying the inevitable.

To get the extension downgraded…