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Apple Sued in France for iPod Music Royalties
alex_guy_CA writes "A musicians rights group in France is suing Apple Computer for back royalties due from iPod sales. It seems in France, all CDs, hard drives, and the like owe musicians money in case any of it is used for piracy. Only Apple isn't paying up." I want compensation from sales of Microsoft Windows just in case it is used for spreading viruses.
Well, it's the law, fair or unfair Apple needs to pay up. Of course, when artists start getting payment from legal users that presume compensation for when the devices are used for piracy, they're more or less waiving their moral claim to any damages for piracy since they've already been paid for that.
... but it seems a pretty clear-cut infringement, given that the law exists. Perhaps Apple want to make a stand - can't see a USA company getting much sympathy in France though...
... sigh...
Oh if only the virus line were true
Simon.
Physicists get Hadrons!
There are some strange and restive laws out there. You should never just release a product and hope for the best. Especially something that makes money of off copywriten material. While you and I may disagree with the law, its still the law in france and Apple needed to have abided by it.
"Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
One thing's that a bit unclear to me is who actually owes this money. Is it really Apple's responsiblity as the maker of the devices, or shouldn't it be the store's since they're the one who set the actual selling price?
Afterall, if the tax is due based on the sale price, any discounts would lower that price.
That will show them!
Seriously, Apple has made an effort to prevent piracy and that should be taken into consideration by Sacem.
Lasers Controlled Games!
If I pay the tax, how much music am I entitled to pirate?
Actually that is not a bad analogy. Everyone pays when a Micr0$oft virus is successful, but if the company that produces the item is to be held responsible for it when it is used badly then Micr0$oft should be bearing the financial burdern of a successful virus. Still, I would vote for a no to Apple IPod tax, and a no to a Microsoft tax for that matter. To bad things are not more consistent.
Next Q: Can the commenters at /. let even one pot-shot at Microsoft go without taking a pot-shot at the editors?
There's never enough when you have too little
If Apple really wants to win they should recall all iPods still in stored in France and put out AD's denouncing the "musicians" rights group and the tax involved, when people can't get what they want is when you get their attention, lawsuits happen all the time but a product being pulled from your country gets things done... "we're sorry, we cannot sell our product to you because is suing us under because they feel they deserve money for every one of our product we sell just in case it is used to pirate music"
Snowden and Manning are heroes.
Incorrect.
It'd go like this (moreso in my wonderful home state of Texas):
*doorbell rings*
"Hello there, I'm from the RIAA handing you a subpoena..."
*smiles*
(Click) Points 20 gague shotgun at the RIAA drone, followed by "You're trespassing. I'll give you a 10 second head-start to get off my porch.."
Now, if the subpoena were served by an actual deputy/process server, then they have leagal right to trespass to serve, without actually entering the dwelling. Joe Citizen (even a member of the RIAA) is not a member of law enforcement and not entitled to trespass to serve legal documents.
But, IANAL.
Cruising the internet on my TI-99/4A @ a whopping 300 baud!
The big question is, how do I become an artist that is entitled to get this money? Do I have to be under contract of a certain recording/distribution company? Do I have to have proof that someone has illegally copied my music? Do all artists get the same amount? Do some get none? Are there any non-artists reaping the benefits of this tax? if so, why?
This ranks right up there as one of the most assinine laws around, not just france's implementation, but every other country that has such a law.
I do, that's the problem. I love the idea of a land of freedom, justice and equality. What really burns my gravy is seeing America call itself that, yet do the complete opposite. America is one of the most oppressive western countries. It has the loosest idea of justice (Guantanamo bay, anyone?) and equality you can find. THAT is my problem with America. If America was the America it is on paper and claims (so vehemently) it is, I'd be singing its praises from the highest building.
This is really getting insane.. so much of our income is being lost on taxes and royalties that its no wonder the world economy is in the tank.
sure there should be a reasonable tax, and some credit given to 'producers' but we are way beyond what should be considered reasonable.
Problem is most people dont notice until tax time, or when they get hit with a law suit..
---- Booth was a patriot ----
And just like in the book, they're "winning". As an example, there's a huge public service campaign now trying to "guilt" landlords into building ADA like features into appartments. The ads feature things like "she's 90 years old and lives on the fifth floor without an elevator". I say they're "winning" because just like in AS, it's their own high minded policies which cause this. French appartments are rent controlled, once you sign the contract your rent can only go up by a minimally, govt approved amount (I think it's 2.5%). Further, people can't be evicted except under extreme circumstances and the elderly and infirm are almost completely exempted from those. In short, there's a motivation NOT to build elevators since you can only try and encourage the old to leave and bring in new tenants at market rates.
You're right though, France is a looters paradise. Want to see Ayn Rand's prediction come true, keep watching France as the baby boom generation retires and the well runs dry.
At the bottom of the endless pile of paper work which characterizes all regulation lies a gun.
Alan Greenspan
Just kidding... nothing like a headline to get some public attention.
But all joking asside, there is some logic to the parallel I am attempting to draw.
If, because of the liklihood that someone will buy blank media and use it for purposes which result in copyright infringment, the artists and organizations 'harmed' should be repaid proportionally to the number or amount of potentially infringing media purchased.
That said, there is a fairly high liklihood that young black males will commit a felony before he is 25. If our conviction rate is any indicator (some 15% of all black males are inelligible to vote due to prior felony convictions) then potentially greater than 30% of all black males will be guilty of a violent crime before he is 25 years of age. If we apply the same logic, we should probably put all black males in prison from the age of 18 to about 21. This will protect the public from the violent crimes that they may potentially commit saving lives and property and will also serve as punishment in advance for anything they may do for which they are never caught.
Please understand that I am being completely ridiculous and I in no way believe the bullcrap I just wrote above. My attempt at writing this garbage is an attempt to draw a parallel at how ridiculous it is to penalize all consumers of recordable media. Just because it doesn't happen in the U.S. is not a reason the people of the U.S. shouldn't be concerned. (We should protect the rights of all if we expect our rights to remain intact.)
I'd like to see a world-wide abolishment of these proactive punitive measures.
So it seems to me that you've already paid the artists... time to fire up kazaa and pirate stuff like mad! erm, download the stuff you paid for.
I know you're trying to be funny, but both Air and Daft Punk are from france. Both of those groups have sold millions of records.
Jack Valenti and Orrin Hatch will be first up against the wall when the revolution comes.
Actually, oil is a strategic natural resource. Iraq is not of interest because Bush or anyone else wants cheap oil. They want control of a strategic resource. Oil represents power, because it represents money and is so critical to the operation of the worlds machinery (literally and figuratively). Being able to control the flow of oil around the world gives the US a great deal of power.
The US barely noticed the genocide of 800,000 Rwandans in 1994. In fact the government took great pains to label it "ethnic cleansing" (and make sure the media did as well) because to call it genocide would invoke treaties which require military intervention to stop genocide. This is just a glaring example of how "strategic interest" governs US policy, not any ethical or moral principles. If it's good for business, if it's good for getting the upper hand over enemies and allies, it's worth the effort.
Human rights is not the reason for invading Iraq, or any of the U.S. involvement in previous years. But to say, "it's about cheap oil" misses the mark a bit. It's about control of oil. If Iraq had nothing but more sand under the sand, Saddam would still be in power. The US has a long and continuing history of upsetting democratic governments and installing despots, supporting vicious human-rights violators, and looking the other way when it comes to people who play ball (Saudi Arabia).
Power and money are the language of America, indeed most of the world. These are what wars are fought over, why people seek office, how the very gears of the global ecomomy works. And the purpose of globalization is to get everybody involved in it who isn't yet. We have created a global system that runs on money and power. To think that this system has any other aim but to continue its own existence and increase the wealth and power of those who run it is illogical.
I think the Americans paid the French back already for those two minor incidents in the 1900s involving Germany.
It's not when the boys got there, it's that they got there.
The Canada levy still only applies to a recording medium on which no sounds have ever been fixed. So why isn't Apple just putting some sounds on the iPods to begin with? Some sort of back-room deal to avoid additional legislation closing that loophole?
Then why isn't the US invading North Korea? There is much evidence of the same kind of Human Rights violations and atrocities that existed in Iraq. Well, the answer is that North Korea is not the World's Second Largest Producer of Oil...
Kim Jong Il is simply not as accessable as Saddam. A surgical operation of the kind that was applied to Iraq could not work in Korea. War with North Korea would mean bloody mayhem for everyone involved, and a huge refugee problem on the Korean peninsula. The US wrecked Saddam's regime because it was vulnerable. He was a bad guy who deserved to come to a bad end. The vast majority of Iraqis would agree. As for the oil, the US will get it like everyone else: at market prices. That is more than I can say for the currupt French and Russian officials who profited from the oil for food shame.
an ill wind that blows no good
The British government forces me to pay a levy on blank music CDs; so why aren't I allowed to copy whatever I want on to it? They can't have it both ways, either I pay the levy and copy any music legally, or they don't charge the levy and prosecute copying.
It's a good thing that computers can write music to data CD's with no levy to pay.
A latent existence
The tax isn't meant to pay the artists, it's meant to cover the cost of your fair use rights.
If I have to pay for it, it is hardly a right.
Germany does not hate France and the French are not targets of our jokes except some good-natured ones on their accent when they try to speak german. The British do not hate France either, though they are wary of the Berlin-Paris axis. On the other hand, the french "jokes" from right-wing America were calculated propaganda, no better than the jewish "jokes" told in Hitler Germany. France is a proud nation. It will take time to forgive.