Spanish Politicians Already Planning To Bring Back Rejected Copyright Bill

from the they-never-stop dept

We already noted how a Wikileaks cable exposed the US's significant role in pushing for new copyright laws in Spain that matched what the US entertainment industry was demanding. The news of US involvement apparently helped convince the Spanish legislature to reject that part of a larger bill. Of course, it appears that the supporters of the bill won't take a hint, and they're already talking about bringing the rejected bill back again, "because it is very important." Yes, but important to whom?
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Filed Under: copyright, spain


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  • identicon
    Johnny, 29 Dec 2010 @ 12:50am

    Important....

    Apparently it's very important to them that the Spanish people learn to hate the entertainment industry as much as every else already does. Threatening single mothers and students with expensive law suits and/or cutting people off from the Internet, will certainly help achieve that goal.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    The eejit (profile), 29 Dec 2010 @ 1:37am

    It's important to the pockets of the corrupt.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Daniel Fernandez, 29 Dec 2010 @ 3:36am

    Chicken or the egg...

    This one is tough for me.... because i'm not sure whether piracy ruined music in Spain or terrible music ruined music in Spain.

    There was a golden age of music between 1995-2000 where records sales reached a peak. This was the era of brilliant albums and equally great sales of greater than 1 million for records by Estopa, Alejandro Sanz, La Oreja de Van Gogh, Rosana. Nowadays the most popular record in Spain for the year is lucky to get 200K in sales.

    Part of me thinks that its because the quality of music has deteriorated. I can't think of one album that reaches the dizzy heights of those late 90's records in quality. So much Spanish music on the radio now seems to be poor versions of American pop/rock or actual crap American pop/rock (see Keisha, Bieber, etc). In saying that some artists like Bebe and La Bien Querida still shine bright mixing pop/rock with Spanish copla/rhumba sensibilities.

    Where I am unsure is if the increased piracy and there is no doubt Spain is a piracy haven on a larger scale than most other developed countries has made record companies less willing to invest and promote risky (in their eyes) talent. I mean, it does seem easier to promote crappy american music which won't require any R&D - it's been paid for. They just have to get it on the radio.

    My feeling is good music will always sell, just on a lesser scale than before. Problem is that it's easier to get to people through the resources of big record companies. As they make less then they will invest less in new talent. Of course this does open opportunities.

    I know my home country Australia has shown something quite interesting over the last few years. Indie/fold/rock/dance Australian acts have done quite well catering to their markets and promoting themselves via the live circuit and indie/alternative radio and have been selling 100K-300K worth of records (see Angus & Julia Stone, The Presets, Sarah Blasko).

    There is hope...

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      PaulT (profile), 29 Dec 2010 @ 4:59am

      Re: Chicken or the egg...

      I've only been living in Spain for 5 years, but I think part of the problem is stagnation, along with high prices and lack of service options. I've been living around the Gibraltar area, largely the Eastern Costa De la Luz and Western Costa Del Sol, and I can think of very few actual "record shops". Most people seem to get their music from larger supermarkets or El Corte Ingles, which can be 30 kms or more away.

      On top of that, most of the local bars seem to play exactly the same music over and over again - it seems like the same 20-30 songs if you're listening to Spanish content (unless house, etc. are the main focus). Many of the radio stations play the same songs as well, interspersed with American content. There's also the question of different communities - for example, how much "piracy" comes from British and other ex-pats who don't fancy the local pop but are geoblocked from using their existing Amazon or 7digital accounts to download legally?

      So, lack of exposure to new music, expensive and difficult to obtain new content to explore = either no new music being sought out and purchased or piracy. The same can be said of movies and games - a few of my Spanish friends have bought a *lot* more games since I introduced them to some British import sites (prices can be up to 1/4 of the Spanish price, even including shipping), but that hardly does the local Spanish industry any good.

      Hopefully, this will improve. Spotify is available here now (of which I'm a member and I'm downloading a few of the artists you mentioned as I write this, Spanish and Aussie!), and moves are in place that suggest that Amazon may be able to offer MP3s here soon. I just hope it's not a matter of too little, too late, or that the industry will get legal measures passed without sorting out their fragmented and underserved market first.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    abc gum, 29 Dec 2010 @ 8:40am

    Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 29 Dec 2010 @ 12:47pm

    el zoro

    someone needs do a zoro wiht a sword right through the copyright C then fly over spain and drop a millin leaflets.....that also add the words
    WE DEMOCRACIES WON WW2, NOT THE NAZIS

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Chargone (profile), 29 Dec 2010 @ 4:21pm

      Re: el zoro

      amusing note: stalin and hitler both rose to power with popular movements...
      the commonwealth nations (and empire. it was sort of a mixture during ww2 i belive?) were monarchies.

      this amuses me.

      of course, the commonwealth also had democratic elements that were a lot more functional than the above mentioned ones.

      so, actually, if you look carefully i think you'll find there weren't actually any democracies involved at all, but instead a collection of monarchies and oligarchies, most of whom have found regular popularity contests to be better ways of resolving power struggles than assassination.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    herbert, 30 Dec 2010 @ 10:08am

    i guess the ones trying to re-introduce the bill have already been 'encouraged' and have to come good after promising that it would become law first time around. when are politicians going to learn that they are in office to serve the people, not the corporate bodies? when is USA going to learn that it has no right to control other countries, especially when it has so many problems it cant control/correct at home?

    link to this | view in chronology ]


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