Replay Six Months Of A German Politician's Life Thanks To His Mobile Phone Data

You Would Think The Recording Industry's Main Magazine Wouldn't Copy Other's Works Without Permission

from the wouldn't-you? dept

Tue, Mar 29th 2011 1:35pm — Mike Masnick

Well, well, well. While I actually enjoy Billboard Magazine, and think that the current management there is doing some interesting things (and actually has a somewhat forward-looking attitude) even if they occasionally write bizarre hit pieces on me, it still is the magazine for the legacy recording industry in many ways. So I have to admit a bit of amusement in seeing that it apparently copied a blog post from Ethan Kaplan and posted it as a "guest post" on their own site... but did so entirely without permission from Kaplan.

Kaplan is being cool about it, saying he's happy to have it reposted, but would have liked Billboard to have asked him first. You would think that a magazine that believes so strongly in copyright law would have done so. But, I guess it's one of those situations where it doesn't seem like such a big deal when "we" do it. It's only when those dirty "others" do it that it's "theft."

Anyway, as with other thoughts by Kaplan, I highly recommend this post as well, though, you should probably read the original on his own site, rather than giving Billboard the traffic. The post discusses Kaplan's discussion of why it's time to kill off the shiny plastic disc (and how he once made that suggestion at Warner Music... and was rapped on the knuckles for it, since "the shiny disk still paid for my shiny servers.")

The crux of Kaplan's argument:

Consider for a moment the amount of supply chain management, staffing and processes in place just to produce a CD and get it out to third party retail. And consider the CD itself: a 74 minute bit conveyance mechanism that is pretty much disposable. They are often used just once: to rip the bits.

So in the end, the CD is this:

A once major source of high margin revenue which is now taking disproportionate back line expense to prop up, in order to justify the size of an industry which does not exist anymore. And even if that expense is not significant in hard numbers, the inertia it creates at the resultant diverted and stifled innovation sure is.

It's time to kill it. Bring it out back and shoot it. And then really take a look at what is left.

Go read the full thing (at Kaplan's site). It's well worth it.

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: billboard, cds, copying, ethan kaplan, infringement, music

36 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

A Dan (profile), 29 Mar 2011 @ 1:42pm

Wrapped
I think perhaps you mean he was rapped on the knuckles.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Cojeff, 29 Mar 2011 @ 1:48pm

The only problem I have getting rid of the shinny disc is that there really isn't way to buy lossless digital copy. I just bought some CDs only because I can't get the lossless. I'll rip it into itunes myself with the setting I choose. Also the digital copies (IMHO) are still a little overpriced.

So for me, bring down the digital price some, offer lossless copies and of course no DRM.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- PlagueSD, 29 Mar 2011 @ 2:47pm
  
  Re:
  If you really want a lossless copy of music, you'll need to buy vinyl. Nothing beats a good analog recording...
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - Lawrence D'Oliveiro, 29 Mar 2011 @ 4:39pm
    
    Re: Vinyl Lossless?
    Over how many plays?
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
    - abc gum, 29 Mar 2011 @ 6:21pm
      
      Re: Re: Vinyl Lossless?
      Record it (lossless) the first play ... duh
      
      I agree, vinyl is awesome. I have quite a bit of old stuff in good shape.
      [ link to this | view in chronology ]
      - Anonymous Coward, 29 Mar 2011 @ 11:24pm
        
        Re: Re: Re: Vinyl Lossless?
        Plywood and liquid silicon are your friends if you know how to use it vynil will last for centuries LoL
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - Kaden (profile), 29 Mar 2011 @ 7:27pm
    
    Re: Re:
    As a medium unto itself, vinyl isn't lossless. You're scraping a hard pointy thing through a groove in a soft piece of plastic... do that 30 times in a row and the high frequency transients are audibly reduced.
    
    An analog pressing of a digital master has had the dynamic range, bass content and phase based imaging effects drastically reduced for the sole purpose of keeping the stylus in the groove... it's lossy before it ever sees the turntable.
    
    Vinyl is warm, soft and nostalgic, but it most certainly is not lossless.
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 29 Mar 2011 @ 6:57pm
  
  Re:
  CD's are terribly unreliable in the long run. When they first came out, I used to somewhat fall for the hype "oh, they last 100 years without any quality loss if you take good care of them". Over the years, my experience shows that not to be true at all. It's just a marketing gimmick. DVD's seem somewhat more reliable than CD's (they have some improvements in their design that help) but I still think they have problems. The type of CD/DVD you buy also seems to make a slight difference as well.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Pickle Monger (profile), 29 Mar 2011 @ 1:55pm

Spelling?
"The Recording Industry's Main Magzine"... is that anything like a magazine? ;-)
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it

Anonymous Coward, 29 Mar 2011 @ 2:01pm

Funny to see someone committed to open source bitching about their writings being reused.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- mrharrysan (profile), 29 Mar 2011 @ 2:12pm
  
  Re:
  FUD... FUD irrelevant trollBot
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- The eejit (profile), 29 Mar 2011 @ 2:13pm
  
  Re:
  No, he's pointing out the hypocrisy. From Kaplan's Twitter: "Glad you ran my post, but please ask first."
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - sehlat (profile), 29 Mar 2011 @ 2:18pm
    
    Re: Re:
    "please ask first"
    
    It's called courtesy, and it's never appeared to be anything the recording industry has given much thought.
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - Markus Hopkins (profile), 29 Mar 2011 @ 2:24pm
    
    Re: Re:
    Just to play devil's advocate, maybe it's Kaplan that's pointing out the hypocrisy of the music industry with that tweet. They get made and sue, so he says "why didn't you just ask nicely? I'm willing to share." Or maybe not.
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
    - Markus Hopkins (profile), 29 Mar 2011 @ 2:25pm
      
      Re: Re: Re:
      Correction: mad
      [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Chris Rhodes (profile), 29 Mar 2011 @ 2:19pm
  
  Re:
  Do you anontrolls ever get tired of this particular strawman?
  
  Every single time someone points out the hypocrisy of the copy maximalists with a "Hey, I don't mind, but doesn't that go against everything you say you believe in?" some idiot rushes in here with a "I THOUGHT FREETARDS DIDN'T MIND LOLOLOLOL".
  
  Seriously, can you connect even two neurons in your malformed brain and form some semblance of a rational thought before you hit the Submit button? Please? Do it for the children.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - Anonymous Coward, 29 Mar 2011 @ 8:21pm
    
    Re: Re:
    Chris, if he is all for open source, shouldn't his blog posts be the same way? There is no indication of copyright claim on his site (except, oddly, for the design by someone else), and only mentions in his "about" page that he supports open source and other initiatives.
    
    It seems that he shouldn't be shocked to have his content re-used without asking. It seems to be what he supports.
    
    After all, if you guys are going to call out any copyright supporter on little things, you need to grow thicker skin and accept the same sort of questions will be asked back.
    
    Or perhaps you remaining neurons can't manage to understand that. Please, do it for yourself, child.
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
    - Anonymous Coward, 29 Mar 2011 @ 11:23pm
      
      Re: Re: Re:
      You see nobody is going out to sue them for having copied that, people just noticed that they copied and didn't ask for permission while those same people insist that is the thing to do, so is rather amusing to see the ones that support the permission culture and scream bloody murder when they are not asked doing exactly the opposite of what they preach.
      
      It is that not a sign that the world really works better with less permissions to ask? When even the supporters of said permissions can't make use of it?
      
      Also you forgot to mock Mike's very recent post still on the front page about how it is better to just let others copy, while making fun of people who didn't ask, you could almost imagine that he did that on purpose to bait people, to come and get the articles and then mock them when they do, but enough of the tin foil theories.
      [ link to this | view in chronology ]
      - Anonymous Coward, 29 Mar 2011 @ 11:43pm
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re:
        One thing about bias.
        
        I'm more likely to let things go of those little mistakes everyone makes about the people I like or don't care, that is why I don't trash Mike all the time, because I don't have nothing against him and he mostly is aligned with the way I see the world.
        
        Not to say he doesn't suffer from cognitive dissonance from time to time(i.e. the article "Sometimes It's Better To Just Let People Copy Your Content Than Deal With Licensing" is the complete opposite of what he is doing here in this one, also his position on supporting new legislation about federal anti-slapp laws but not net neutrality rules), but I just don't care that much and I wouldn't care either about the mistakes of the entertainment industry if they didn't annoy me and tried to change social norms that are dear to me.
        
        Sharing is a basic fundamental of all societies, that is more important then any business interest in this world could ever be, business are transient, they don't last, sharing on the other hand has been with us for 10's of thousands of years since the dawn of humanity on earth, you really think I would support anything that threatens that?
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
    - Anonymous Coward, 30 Mar 2011 @ 12:05am
      
      Re: Re: Re:
      How that can be minor?
      If somebody took an article from them do you think you people would be quiet about it and grow a thicker skin?
      
      Nope you would be screaming bloody murder, bloody thieves and all that hyperbole that is customary to ip-maximalists.
      
      The whole stand of you people is that others need to ask for permission and pay for it, so when you people don't follow those rules you hold so dear what that makes you guys?
      
      People are not shocked because somebody took it, but because of who took it.
      [ link to this | view in chronology ]
    - The eejit (profile), 30 Mar 2011 @ 1:32am
      
      Re: Re: Re:
      He's not surprised at all. Kaplan was mentioning that Billboard wasn't being helpful to its cause.
      [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Mike Masnick (profile), 29 Mar 2011 @ 2:02pm

typos
Fixed. Thanks. :)
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 29 Mar 2011 @ 2:37pm

How about instead of having a third party store distribution, have a single shipping/storage center, since there is still a demand for the discs, and rather than trying to guess where and how many will be sold, have it be mail/internet order only, while still keeping the prices reasonable for the disc.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 29 Mar 2011 @ 6:59pm
  
  Re:
  You almost described Netflix.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Planespotter (profile), 29 Mar 2011 @ 2:43pm

Once the shiny disc is no more the walls should start to crumble. The current cost of downloads seem to have some parity to the cost of a track on a physical object.

No physical object = no parity.

IMHO anyway.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Planespotter (profile), 29 Mar 2011 @ 2:46pm
  
  Re:
  oh... and we should know by now with people who wish to ramp IP laws...
  
  "Do as I say not as I do", worked for Sarkozy!
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
btr1701 (profile), 29 Mar 2011 @ 2:44pm

Funny...
...how all the Big Copy shills never seem to come barreling into threads like this demanding the violators be held strictly accountable for whatever infringement has occurred.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Joe, 29 Mar 2011 @ 2:58pm

Others'
Others'
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
trish, 29 Mar 2011 @ 4:22pm

garbage
plastic discs are garbage waiting to be thrown away. In 2011 music and movies should not be sold in plastic discs, because it's bad for the environment. Has anyone thought of the landfills? (or the planet we will leave our children...)?
Maybe the recording industry hasn't heard of this nifty thing, been around a few years now, called the Internets. Maybe they could sell their music there? Environmentally-friendly-ly and oh so cheaply?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- JEDIDIAH, 30 Mar 2011 @ 7:39am
  
  Re: garbage
  Without a physical token, you don't really have any means to establish your right to own a copy of that work.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Huph, 30 Mar 2011 @ 10:06am
  
  Re: garbage
  Actually, I don't see it quite the same way. CDs are somewhat collectible to many people. I don't think they are thrown out in the volumes that disposable packaging/bottles/etc are thrown out. Well, except for those AOL discs in the 90s.
  
  And consider this: if we can make the manufacture of carbon-heavy plastic as "green" as possible and primarily use it to manufacture items that a person would hold on to forever, then we are successfully removing carbon from the atmosphere and trapping it in a plastic tchothke that hopefully *won't* end up in a landfill.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 29 Mar 2011 @ 9:57pm

WTF?

When has td ever promoted asking before copying? Geez, everyone here knows it would stifle innovation if everyone had to ask before copying something. And what if the answer is no?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Nick Coghlan (profile), 29 Mar 2011 @ 11:56pm

They need a replacement first
CDs are currently the only way to consistently get lossless DRM-free recordings suitable for transcoding to the format du jour.

When they bring out a digital music store that is actually an adequate CD replacement (ie. one that offers DRM-free lossless recordings), then they can get rid of the shiny plastic discs.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Hephaestus (profile), 30 Mar 2011 @ 6:26am

"they occasionally write bizarre hit pieces on me"

Wanted dead or alive Mike Masnick!!!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Hephaestus (profile), 30 Mar 2011 @ 6:57am

I just read the Billboard "Hit Piece" Article
Billboard is a very well known site and publication. When I read the "Hit Piece" article it had a single "Like". My first article here at techdirt got over 100 tweets and 500 plus facebook likes.

Several questions and thoughts came to mind. Do people actually still read billboard? Is this guy a real writer? Did people in the music industry see Mikes name have a panic attack and fail to finish reading the article? Perhaps it is considered blasphemy in music industry circles to say "The Masnicks" name. Perhaps they consider him "he whose name can not be spoken aloud". Perhaps they looked away in fear.

I do wonder about the single "Like" on that article and what it means for the record labels.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 30 Mar 2011 @ 10:29am

Pointing out hypocrisy is not the same as being hypocritical - Mike is pointing out that the magazine of a group that believes strongly in copyright copying someone else's work without permission is amusing.

This does not mean that Mike thinks the action was wrong (or right), simply that it was inconsistent with their stated beliefs. The correctness or incorrectness of the action is a separate topic.

This doesn't seem inconsistent with Mike's thoughts about avoiding licensing in the future by giving permission to use what they like ... after all, by telling them to use what they like, he is giving permission before the item is used - exactly as did not happen in this case.

By the way: the blog post / article that was copied wasn't Mike's.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]