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RIAA, This Is Earth, Please Come In!

Posted by timothy on from the orthodoxy-vs-possibilities dept.

ccnull writes "You might remember George Ziemann as the musician who found his own music banned from eBay because it was recorded on CD-R. Now he's back with a new rant about the RIAA's statistics, which blame piracy for the dire condition of the music industry. What's to blame? Price hikes and fewer titles. The latest rant (including analysis of the RIAA's own data) is mainly circulating by email, here's a readable link. (As an interesting side note, Ziemann says that songs are really just ads for CDs, and thus should be freely traded.)"

2 of 477 comments (clear)

  1. Re:RIAA has no hard numbers on piracy by gmp · · Score: 5, Informative
    okay, all together now: "piracy=copyright infringement" dates at least to 1769. See e.g. Millar v. Taylor, 4 Burr. 2303.
    No case of a prosecution in the Star-Chamber, for printing without a license, or against letters patent, or pirating another man's copy, or any other disorderly printing, has been found. ...

    But it is certain, that down to the year 1640, copies were protected and secured from piracy, by a much speedier and more effectial remedy, than actions at law, or bills in equity.

    You might also check out Bouvier's law dictionary, 1856 edition.
    PIRACY, torts. By piracy is understood the plagiarisms of a book, engraving or other work, for which a copyright has been taken out. 2. When a piracy has been made of such a work, an injunction will be granted. 5 Ves. 709; 4 Ves. 681; 12 Ves. 270. Vide copyright.
  2. Why CD sales are down by Animats · · Score: 5, Informative
    The surprising thing is that CD sales are only down 9%. Consider:
    • Music now competes directly at retail with DVDs, music videos, and video games. Most stores that carry any of those carry all of them.
    • Most of the radio stations in the US are now owned by Clear Channel or Infinity Broadcasting, which play the same old music over and over again.
    • Everybody has already converted from analog vinyl to CD.
    • We're in a recession. All discretionary spending is down. Cars and air travel are doing much worse than music.
    • Concert attendance is down about as much as CD sales are down.
    • Rock music tanked a while back, and nothing since has a similarly broad appeal.
    With all this, it's surprising that CD sales aren't down something like 50%. We may yet see that happen.