It Takes A Court To Explain That Downloads Aren't Public Performances?
from the time-to-rewrite-copyright-law dept
It's no secret that copyright law is a bit out of step with the times these days, and probably could use a massive rewrite. The problem is that Congress is continually retrofitting it with changes and additions that tend to lead to even more problems and certainly don't make the system any better prepared to deal with ongoing changes in the content marketplace. Take, for example, the latest court battle, where performing rights organization ASCAP tried to claim that music downloads from online services should count as "public performances." Why? Because copyright law allows for performance rights, meaning that if downloads are performances, ASCAP can collect more royalties for each download. This is mainly because performance rights can be negotiated (or denied), while other rights are compulsory. Luckily a federal judge had a bit of common sense and pointed out that downloads are not public performances, though there will likely be a series of appeals on this issue. The key point is that the inability of copyright law to flexibly deal with digital music and networks means we're only going to see more attempts like this one where stakeholders try to squeeze more money out of the system through legal loopholes, rather than through providing more value to music consumers.
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3rd
We better do soumtin' about it, and raght quick !
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Re:
And all these trade organizations wonder why people are using p2p to download music. Consumers only have so much money. The industry has changed - unfortunately, the companies haven't.
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The next step...
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they may have a point, but hardly
I mean, when you broadcast a song, it counts as a performance, right? if it does, then they may be thinking that downloading is akin to broadcasting, and thus count as a performance.
It's hardly a leg to stand on, and I definitely don't agree with it, but it is possible. Especially using their crazy minds. And if they would have been approved, that does mean that ebooks, and all other electronic merchandise online are performances?
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Re: they may have a point, but hardly
the key word here being "broadcast"
so if we are talking about an online radio then you can call it public performance.
but when you are downloading music from HMV dgital or Itune public performance doesnt apply cause those are just Online stores.
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It's Too Bad...
If you build it, they will come.
That isn't just true of ballfields in cornfields, if the music industry would present me with an alternative that brings me value for my entertainment dollar, allows the artist to earn a living, and allows me the freedom to use and move that content as I see fit, I'll buy & buy & buy.
But they don't, so I don't. Instead I spend my money at places like: Amie Street
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Just for the record, its ASCAP's job to..
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Re: Just for the record, its ASCAP's job to..
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Re: Just for the record, its ASCAP's job to..
If ASCAP was just for the artists then they would already know that downloading a song from AOL/Yahoo/Real is just like going out and buying a single from Wallmark/Kmart/Target and would have never brought up this issue. There just trying to stop the progress of downloadable music that they can't control as easily as physical media.
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given 'em time. they may not succeed, but they'll try...
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F-xx Them
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why DL == performance 2 them
Plumbing the depth of ridiculousness in this claim is left as an exercise to the reader.
It becomes more and more obvious--that is, obvious in the sense of obscuring everything else--that it's "game over" for the music industry. They and their lawyers are doing the equivalent of a child's idle rattling of an amusement machine, after s/he has no more money to spend. While there may be the occasional coincidence of some sound or flash in concert with the child's attempts to get more, there really is no more to be had.
You can be assured that entertainment lawyers are busy looking for more footholds, however slim, on which to stand as they file more suits. See also SCO, who also has no product but wants to make money through litigation.
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Re: why DL == performance 2 them
Alrighty then. If downloading is a performance because you might be able to, under certain circumstances, listen to the song as you are downloading it, then what of radio broadcasts? Most people do listen to the music as it's being streamed to their radio, and like live performances (and unlike downloading) the radio is not primarily designed to make a permanent recording on the user's personal media.
Yeah, that's it. The ASCAP should be going after those nefarious radio stations, thinking they can stage 15 live Madonna performances a day without fairly compensating the performer. Who do those $*#!! radio stations think they are?!
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Performing Artist
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truth is not the point
That is current US law in a nutshell. Obviously whether or not it makes sense is not relevant.
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