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MP3s and downloads - copyright and royalties


jdgm

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Posted

This link takes you to a BBC news article about the resale of digital media over the net. The court case is EMI vs ReDigi, who are 'the first legal online marketplace for second-hand digital material.'

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-19842851

 

I have to admit I don't understand all the issues but it's fascinating and adds to the whole copyright/royalties legal minefield.

I don't download either and until recently wasn't aware that if you buy a download, you don't own it for resale. Many people won't be too bothered about this given that downloads are cheap, but my old LPs and CD collection have got second-hand value. Should MP3s have second-hand value? Who would like to have to decide on that?

 

Another issue that this raises is - how the heck are you, me, anybody going to make any money to speak of out of playing or writing or creating music in this cyber-maze? Well, it can and has been done (I'm thinking of the album-by-subscription scheme that was successful for prog-rockers Marillion and others) but it looks like the digital download copyright/royalty issue is a tough one...and policing 'the cloud'...science-fiction!

Posted

Yeah I was reading about this too...

 

Its a really weird idea to call something that is only in the digital relm second hand... As there is not physical product it rasies all sorts of oddness..

 

The biggest one being how can anyone prove that a file is second hand? Its legal to make backup copies of physical disks and of your MP3s so as it says in the article, how can you then prove that the original user has deleted it.. You cant, its totally unenforcable.

 

In which case I say that the "re-sale" of MP3s is just another con. And yes it does kind of mean that your digital collection is not really worth anything. Cos even if they find a way to enforce it the issue with anything computer based is that if it can be programmed, it can be unprogrammed and people will always find a way to copy them.

 

 

As for the bands, CD/MP3 sales are known not to be the source of the main money.. That comes from touring and merchandise (and stuff like that).

Posted

The only issue I can see is that people need to realize that everything that can be stored digitally is free and available to anyone everywhere in infinite copies instantly. This s a good thing. Having everyone listen to your music is the ultimate promotional tool.

And musicians need to realize that giving a record company ownership of your art is the worst idea imaginable. Recently a streaming service sued someone for pirating their music, they won and received a nice sum of money from it. Did ANY of that money reach the musicians that created it? lolololol.....

 

Studio recordings is an investment in a quality promotional tool you'd want as many people as possible to experience without making them look for it in a store or setup an account with a streaming service that charges your credit card.

 

The internet is free, music is alive, and the work and the money is in the performance.

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