DVD TV Shows Still Coming Without The Music
from the it's-a-problem... dept
A while back there was a story talking about how various TV shows were being released on DVD with changes to the music track -- because the original show never expected home distribution to be an issue and didn't license the music rights for such things. Some shows also didn't have music distribution rights for syndication -- leading to the syndicated versions replacing original songs with cheap imitations. A few years later... and the story is still exactly the same. In fact, both stories use the same example of WKRP in Cincinnati. Many TV shows simply aren't coming out on DVD, because the music license rights are way too expensive. Some shows are coming with modified music tracks that upset buyers who want the original. Who, exactly, is this protecting? Fewer people get to hear the music. Fewer people get to see the show. People who want to see the show are upset. People selling the DVDs are upset. Of course, the studios putting out the DVDs are the same ones fighting so hard for stricter intellectual property rights. Apparently, they don't see the irony.
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Almost Famous
The movie Almost Famous had a scene where the lead character played a Led Zeppelin album, while the actors lip-synched Stairway to Heaven and played air guitar and drums. They had to cut the scene because of rights issues.
The DVD "extras" includes the cut scene, but with no sound. Instead they tell you to get your Led Zeppelin IV album ready, and then they flash a cue on the screen when you are supposed to start playing Stairway to Heaven on your stereo.
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No Subject Given
It's "protecting" the owners of the original music, who would prefer to charge so much that it's economically unfeasible for anyone to distribute their music, rather than to charge less and actually "make a sale."
Laws protect the stupid, too. And let's face it, the music industry isn't filled with the brightest of today's thinkers.
High prices is what created Napster to start with (one could buy a ticket to the premiere of a $300 million Hollywood blockbuster movie for what it costs to buy a copy of an album). Even now, the average DVD price isn't much more than a CD of music.
And now today, news that the record industry wants Apple to charge more for iTunes songs. The theory is that, now that its successful, we should jack up the price. What they don't seem to understand is that it's successful BECAUSE of the price.
Just dolts these people.
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What about the future?
I'd like to see intellectual property laws seriously revamped to strike a better balance on many fronts. While I'm holding my breath, I at least hope production contracts for new shows now address later distribution on DVD and video on demand when securing rights to music.
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