The RIAA attempts to rewrite copyright law
"Surely, you're joking!" I thought as I read Glyn Moody's take on recent rumblings from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Glyn was making the point that the music industry is hurting itself through its heavy-handed efforts to stamp out peer-to-peer file sharing/stealing.
He's right, but it's even worse than that, it turns out. The RIAA is actually trying to rewrite copyright law on the fly, as the Washington Post reports:
In legal documents in its federal case against Jeffrey Howell, a Scottsdale, Ariz., man who kept a collection of about 2,000 music recordings on his personal computer, the [music] industry maintains that it is illegal for someone who has legally purchased a CD to transfer that music into his computer....
RIAA's hard-line position seems clear. Its Web site says: "If you make unauthorized copies of copyrighted music recordings, you're stealing. You're breaking the law and you could be held legally liable for thousands of dollars in damages."
No, not to someone else's computer. To your own computer. Like a backup copy. This is so clearly not against the law that I'm shocked the RIAA would bother with the attempt. Why, oh why, does the music industry insist on making things hard for itself?
Apparently because it's run by complete bozos:
The RIAA's legal crusade against its customers is a classic example of an old media company clinging to a business model that has collapsed. Four years of a failed strategy has only "created a whole market of people who specifically look to buy independent goods so as not to deal with the big record companies," Beckerman says. "Every problem they're trying to solve is worse now than when they started."
No sane company sues its customers. Adoption is the bread of economic life. If you have adoption, you have everything. The next step - getting people to pay for the goods they've adopted - is much easier than getting adoption in the first place.
Instead of figuring out novel models to capitalize on widespread adoption of their products, however, the music industry is trying to force the world to revert to the 20th Century. It's just not going to happen.
It's time for the music industry and its lackey, the RIAA, to join us in the 21st Century. The 21st Century will almost certainly not look kindly on your 20th-century business models. But that doesn't mean you can't make a lot of money. It just means you need to upgrade your model. It's really not that hard.
UPDATE: Engadget reports that the suit referred to above is about illegal downloading of pirated copies of songs, not copying a song to one's computer.
Matt Asay brings a decade of in-the-trenches open-source business and legal experience to The Open Road, with an emphasis on emerging open-source business strategies and opportunities. Matt is vice president of business development at Alfresco, a company that develops open-source software for content management. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure. You can follow Matt on Twitter @mjasay. 
Matt, I like your sentence. I fully agree. RIIA can not force us to keep buying music CDs. The format is soon to die. Artist can still make good money from live performances, ad endorsements, merchandising and even downloads.
http://tech-talk.biz/2007/12/25/how-will-music-industry-survive-internet/
The general concern is that the RIAA often equates unauthorized with illegal so eventually they will make just that argument. Any copying is illegal. IIFC, the lead attorney for Sony made stated that any copying is stealing.
Here is what their web site contains.
"You make an MP3 copy of a song because the CD you bought expressly permits you to do so. But then you put your MP3 copy on the Internet, using a file-sharing network, so that millions of other people can download it."
In the Atlantic vs. Howell case the RIAA explicitly has made the point that the legality of making a copy of a legitimately purchased piece of music for fair use purposes and/or backup purposes by the person who purchased the music is not an issue. Making the original or the copy available to others by placing the music file (in any format) into a file sharing folder where others may access it for copying to their computers or other devices is the issue. WHY DO THE RIAA CRITICS LEAVE THIS OUT?
It should be clear by now, although it apparently isn't, that the intellectual property thieves will continue to go down in flames when challenged with lawsuits. My guess is that financial punishment will not be enough to make illegal copying and copyright infringement a rare occurrence. Jail time will have to be the norm to put a dent in this piracy.
Really? Let's see. The 20th century model says to prosecute shoplifters. The 21st century model says to reward shoplifters by letting them keep what they stole and offering the remaining merchandise at a below cost price.
I think that if you are going to survive in business in the 21st century, you cannot give away your product or service for free. You apparently think otherwise. Try it and let us know how you do in a year or so.
- by Ray Beckerman January 10, 2008 9:31 AM PST
- Scorpiaux is just wrong. Read this.
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