I read something the other day that irritated me. In a post on a music site that I read from time to time…someone asked if it was a violation of some copyright if a friend lends you a copy of an album (that they purchased legally), you put it on your iPod and listen to it…was that considered stealing? One post went on and on about how it was. That is a muddled area to me, and a huge part of me disagrees. The person stated that while it is true that nothing physical switched hands per se that the content transfer itself was a violation because the artist/company did not get paid for that new person to have access to that music. By this logic…if I was to “lend” you an album…you in turn have to pay me for this…and then I have to somehow get the funds back to the copyright holder? Seems like a mad stretch there don’t you think? Yet this is basically what we are dealing with here.
And let’s go back to those used media stores. If the book on the shelf is a copy that I buy for a small price compared to if it was brand new…am I violating the law? The person that got this title originally paid for it, right? A middle man (the store) gave them a fractional credit back for it when they brought it in and turned around and resold it to me for a profit. The store didn’t pay for anything for it really, right? When does the copyright end? When does the distribution of cash end? Because let us face facts. It is about the almighty dollar is it not? What about a less established store? Not a used record shop or bookstore. Does this same logic and precedent slide down to someone holding a garage sale? Does Lady Gaga need to get a piece of every garage sale resale of her CD across the fruited plain?
Technology has brought us to this place. Since it is so easy to transport and store things…the material is compact and easier to “consume”. The entertainment industry (and I use that term to attempt to cover music, film, and the written word) failed to see this coming by pricing itself out of the market. It seems like only now they are waking up to people being tired of paying $18.00 or more for a new CD that costs pennies to make. Now that it is quite easy to find tons of titles in the $5.00 to $7.00 range these days (which is awesome) people don’t care…because they want the portability to be there. A flash drive, iPod, or Kindle is much more convenient to lug around than an entire catalog of discs or books isn’t it? Sure it is.
To this day if artists are making more cash from live shows and selling t-shirts that isn’t something that you can’t exactly pirate. You can’t exactly put a live concert experience online. Video of it sure, but attending a show with a friend in the flesh cannot be duplicated online. It’s like experiencing life and the human condition can only go so far online. You have to leave your basement or bedroom to experience the world outside. You cannot reproduce sunshine and loud rock and roll excitement with 10,000 other cheering fans from your laptop. Not in the true sense anyway. So…bands hit the road…charge what seems to be ever increasing amounts for a seat…and we the fans lap it up.
I’ve said before I have nothing against “rich” people. I think if you are successful and creative enough to earn lots of money…more power to you. I often wonder though if you have a billion dollars in the bank…is that enough? Who’s to say? Let’s be honest. I follow entertainment a bit. Every weekend you hear about what was the top movie at the box office. Millions spent there. Millions! Because you have to leave your home to see it, experience it, live it. Concert tours that rake in millions every year. I see people wearing rock shirts or sporting some sort of apparel supporting some band. I’m an old man, and I have my share of those too. You can’t download a shirt, can you? Some of these “entertainers” do juuuuuust fine. They become “rich” because we are willing to pay for it.
What I mean to say is…there seems to be plenty of cash floating around out there. There are millions spent each and every day on entertainment in some fashion. If the focus was placed on harnessing that, producing more quality product, and less on who might be listening to a second hand version of a 30 year old album…there might be something a little less dramatic than SOPA that could reign this thing in.
I’m not saying downloading content is okay. I am not advocating that. I am not supporting the illegal process of denying payment for material that has a copyright. I’m not saying that some stars already made their millions and need to back off of the little guy. I’m saying…this is dangerous to creativity and the sharing of ideas. Not files or albums or videos. Ideas. If people stop and think…hey, I am listening to Pink Floyd in the car on the radio, and I don’t have that album at home…is it okay that I am hearing it? If people think…wow, I heard this Doobie Brothers song twice today; should I pay them something for each time I hear it? What about…I just watched the Reds game on my DVR with my friends here. Should I get the express written consent from Major League Baseball first? Is it okay to bypass the commercials? How far do we take this crazy idea? Does the guy on eBay that is selling me that old Jack Lemmon movie need to show me a receipt from where he bought it before I can pay him for his used copy? Is it even okay for me to buy his used copy?
If you went into a store…shoved a CD down your pants and walked out with it…sold it in the parking lot…yes…that is piracy/theft. Deserves punishment. I just don’t know if I am comfortable with shutting down entire web sites (that can have a billion different legal uses and practical applications), making the public uneasy about if they buy something second hand if they are violating some law, or lending a friend a book for a while constitutes piracy is really a good practice. I most certainly don’t have an answer…and I know there are people out there that are abusing the law and ripping things off all the time. I just don’t see it going away. It will change into something else as time goes along. The way info is transferred will change. The technology will grow and improve. It’s just that somehow I feel like in the not too distant future…us fans and consumers are going to be forced to take a big bite of a crap sandwich.
I hope I am wrong, but as you can clearly see…I am not holding my breath. Stay tuned kiddies.
1 comments:
You mention technology and how it makes it easier to port our record collections around or to "file share" and trade the music/media illegally. But, there's another side to that. Nobody that's up in arms about how computers are used to do these things have also dramatically reduced the costs of producing that same music/media. Some poor schmuck like me can record, master and release a complete album that was made in their bedroom. The record companies still expect the public to pay for albums like they cost a fortune to make. I realize that you touched on this a bit in your post but, this is something that is rarely if ever touched upon by the news sources that are obviously corporate backed entities. It's no wonder that these things are invading washington and the "halls of power" considering corporate america's ever increasing reach into our government. See citizens united ect. ect...
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