Dan Bull's Favorite Techdirt Posts Of The Week
from the it's-dan-bull,-son dept
Looking across Techdirt this week, two trends make themselves apparent time and time again. As artists utilize new ways to succeed, gatekeepers such as book publishers and record labels are becoming increasingly obsolete. The more obsolete these gatekeepers become, the crazier their tactics in trying to deny and prevent it.It is futile to operate a tollgate when the fence it was attached to isn't there any more. Or, to paraphrase Patton Oswalt, there are no gates left to keep when "In my hand right now I'm holding more filmmaking technology than Orson Welles had when he filmed Citizen Kane." Of course, this paradigm shift in moving production and distribution into the hands of creators has been obvious for a long time, but several of this week's stories provide delicious examples of the trend.
Firstly, Blogger Penelope Trunk's conversations with her book publisher's PR team read like satire -- when asked how they might be promoting her book, their leading suggestion was to use newsgroups. I first had internet access at the turn of the millennium, and even then newsgroups were old hat. The fact that the professional PR wing of an esteemed publisher is still touting this kind of thing is astonishing. In fact, I'd wager that the Techdirt article about Trunk's situation will lead to more sales than any newsgroup promotion would.
At the same time, e-book author Stephen Leather was met with hostility at a literary festival for suggesting that anything except the traditional bookselling model was viable -- despite clear evidence to the contrary. The fact that Leather and others are successfully selling their e-books for such a low price is not devaluing literature. When production costs of publishing move towards zero, then it's inevitable that the sales point will move in that direction too. To deny such a trend with cries of not fair is not going to change the situation. Simple Darwinism is at work here. The ones who survive are the ones most adaptable to change. Although there is plenty that industry behemoths can do to close the gap, it will always be the lean, independent upstarts with nothing to lose who are the most nimble. And so it should be.
Rather than closing the gap though, it looks as if the industry old guard would prefer to carry on its war on the inevitable rather than focusing on how to meet consumer demands. The IFPI has announced that none of the money recovered from The Pirate Bay will be paid to the artists from whom it's been allegedly "stolen." Instead, it will be used to attempt to recover further moneys in the same manner. Dare we ask when that cycle will end. If recovering funds from infringement is funded by recovering funds from infringement, then stamping it out altogether would put a stop to the IFPI's new source of income. My friend spent eight years learning to drive, and I couldn't help wondering if her instructor was just milking her for as long as he could get away with it. Could a similar phenomenon be happening here?
Just for laughs, I was highly amused to see that a French company is attempting to
It was also entertaining to learn that due to a technicality in UK law, the simple act of visiting a website results in copyright infringement. If you're in the UK and have visited a website lately, I'd suggest uninstalling your browser and wiping your hard drive right now. You know, just in case those pesky gatekeepers discover the exciting new revenue stream of recovering money from everyone who has ever visited their websites. I'm just kidding - that's about as likely as someone selling I Am Not A Virgin t-shirts being challenged by Richard Branson.
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Get it right foo'
/Like your music by the way
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TRADMARKs?
Get it right, foo'.
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Re: TRADMARKs?
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Nice. Way to connect with fans.
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You don't have any power to stop people from copying anything, but if you want to be Cpt. Ahab, that is fine too.
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I guess you got the being rude job.
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Cheap shot 2: "looking for parades to get in front of?"
I guess you're just like that guy from Memento. You can't remember the thing you did one minute ago.
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Print an aspirin!
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The way he finished his post was saying "I am talking at you, not with you, unless you go to these other places". If someone from the **AAs did that, Mike would rip them a new asshole.
"Cheap shot 2: "looking for parades to get in front of?""
It's what he does. I want to know the process for someone to be able to do that.
The only cheap shot is that you don't hold everyone to the same standards.
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But if we're going to talk about what ifs I'd think he would praise them if they tried connecting instead of being asshats, even if you had to go to a certain forum. As long as they don't just censor criticism or and allow more than just insiders participate I think it would meet with Mike's approval.
This is of course an educated guess based on what Mike actually posts here instead of whatever weird version of MIke you've made up in your head.
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You honestly don't think Mike would use that as a chance to rip them? Mike has done it with much, much less in the past.
I read the site. That's why I can predict Mike's little jibes.
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The RIAA and MPAA deserve to get ripped a new one because they had to be dragged kicking and screaming into providing more options to consumers, said options are not generally consumer friendly - resulting them in being unsuitable for consumers through which they can legitimately obtain content. Yet, when this is pointed out the RIAA/MPAA complain that it's all the consumers' fault.
The RIAA is being judged on past behaviour for which they have not yet had just desserts for. You comparing Dan Bull to this is apples and oranges. Nice try attempting to drum up sympathy for them, though.
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Cheap shot 4: "The only cheap shot is that you don't hold everyone to the same standards."
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I'd say the question "are you a musician or do you use samples" is a loaded one, there is some amazing music made by people who purely use samples. There is a video on YouTube showing how "Smack My Bitch Up" by the prodigy was built, using Ableton Live that gives a great insight into this.
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I'd say the question "are you a musician or do you use samples" is a loaded one, there is some amazing music made by people who purely use samples. There is a video on YouTube showing how "Smack My Bitch Up" by the prodigy was built, using Ableton Live that gives a great insight into this.
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Is it depressing to realise you're the only person reading this who leapt to that stupid conclusion?
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Troll AC signed on for beta testing.
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Appears you accidentally a word
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UK copyright - visiting a website
I learned that fact in 1996 whilst at college. It doesn't really result in infringement though (for a legitimate site) - the copyright owner that published the site does so with full knowledge that a temporary copy of the site will be made in your cache when you visit the site, so permission is implied by the act of publishing it for viewing by the public.
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Re: UK copyright - visiting a website
That is the sane view. And in an earlier era, we could perhaps trust the common courts to maintain a little bit of sanity: Doctrines such as implied license sprang up to adjust the law to the real world.
The insane view holds all copying strictly verboten: Viewing a website warrants two noisy helicopters in the sky over your house, whilst a hundred stormtroopers bust in doors and windows. Toss flash-bangs in. Shoot the family dog. Aim an assault rifle at the ear of a six year-old. Handcuff the child.
Some people want to live in an insane world.
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Re: Re: UK copyright - visiting a website
FTFY
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Honestly can't say I'm a fan, don't much listen to music these days. Still, my hearts desire says I'm all for those that tilt the windmills of the major labels. I've no love for them with all the stupid stuff they've pulled over the years. They've earned a lot of bad publicity and an even worse reputation.
So go knock em dead. I'll be cheering for ya.
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They know that their time is soon up and are just grabbing all the money they can before the general public finally gets fed up enough to wipe them out completely.
They'll all gone soon.
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Recorded Music
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Will it rain tomorrow?
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Re: Recorded Music
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Given that there is no requirement that recordings be preserved for the future after copyright expires, I suspect they will be put in some dank warehouse on a pallet when their economic viability is dead. By the time they are public domain, most won't be in very good condition as they will have been moved to make room for those that do pay to be stored in humidity and temperature controlled storage areas.
When they do become public domain, the hardware to play them probably won't be available to the general public. Some old granny might have a cd player or tape player that's been in the attic that belonged to her husband before he passed on. Even there, DRM will be the guardian that just won't quit. After it is public domain, DRM will still be alive and well in it. An authorizing server? Don't be foolish, they will long ago moved on and that server won't exist.
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where are the crippling fines for letting past works disintegrate out of existence?
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Like OMG!! ITS DAN BULL!
http://boingboing.net/2012/07/31/music-industry-in-sum.html
*ponders* I think I found the flaw in the digital age...
How do I get you to sign my copies of Sharing is Caring?
Don't mind the trolls, one of them really has a disturbing obsession with you. He puts words into your mouth and runs with it... he prolly wants to... nevermind I'll behave it is Sunday afterall... >:D
Its nice to see you here, its one thing to see a story covering you it is another when your here being engaged and involved.
Do you share the feeling the IFPI should be hauled into court to answer why when the court awarded damages to compensate specific artists and rightsholders, IFPI thinks they can ignore that order and divert the funds to themselves?
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Re: Like OMG!! ITS DAN BULL!
You are so full of shit. How do you even breath?
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Re: Re: Like OMG!! ITS DAN BULL!
I was discussing previous combat done with Trolls here who made claims that Dan had said and done things, but never could show where it was sourced from other than his own statements.
It was a discussion about how Dan had downloaded a cracked copy of a program he had purchased because the cracked copy worked and the purchased copy was utter crap. It then derailed into this amazing debate about how he didn't need the expensive program he paid for, he could have done it with cheaper programs and he was only good because he stole.
So sounds a lot like you, especially as your repertoire of insults seems to suffer when you get cranky. Notice you had to point out I was full of shit, I managed to dance around what I wanted to say and still got you angry... and I wasn't even thinking of you when I wrote it.
umadbro?
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Re: Like OMG!! ITS DAN BULL!
Nope, just doesn't have the same ring to it.
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I guess if the IFPI have defied a court order then they ought to be held accountable and explain why. I don't know much about the law but that's what seems right to me as a layman.
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Good news everyone!
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Re: Good news everyone!
Hopefully more countries will look at what happens when you buy into the fairy tale they tell, and that that annoying your citizens to make some butthurt megacorps happy doesn't end very well.
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Re: Re: Good news everyone!
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Copyright, trademark, tomato, tomahto.
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