Slashdot Mirror
Tension Between Record Labels And Digital Radio
An anonymous reader writes "Now that digtial radio devices are allowing recording of shows, you knew it wouldn't be long before music executives started raising a fuss. They're worried that users will prefer to record the high-quality audio (for free) to buying a download or CD." From the article: "For now, the Recording Industry Association of America is in negotiations with satellite radio companies and is opening discussions with radio broadcasters over specific products. But over the long term, the music industry says, Congress should find a way to regulate these new digital radio networks so labels can get paid when consumers keep copies of songs, as is the case with iTunes."
Congress should find a way to regulate these new digital radio networks so labels can get paid when consumers keep copies of songs, as is the case with iTunes.
Last I checked it was legal to record off the radio. The AHRA covers this...
The act failed to define "noncommercial use by a consumer" however " In short, the reported legislation [Section 1008] would clearly establish that consumers cannot be sued for making analog or digital audio copies for private noncommercial use." (House Report No. 102-780(I), August 4, 1992) .
Although now that I think about it, technically the music industry is getting around this part of the legislation by not going after consumers recording digital media off the radio, but in fact threating to pull out of agreements with digital radio broadcasters if they don't implement this system. This is the kind of shit that gets them investigated by Elliot Spitzer.
The Doormat
If you're not outraged, then you're not paying attention.
All uses that are not explicitly covered by copyright law are "fair use" under the 9th Amendment. Wherein the rights NOT explicitly given to Congress or the President are reserved to the People themselves. No explicit grant is required.
I have nothing to hide. So, why are you spying on me?
It looks like Congress has made some legal distinction based on how you get the information. E.g. the information in a terrestrial radio broadcast is in a different legal category than satellite radio or an internet download.
This is ridiculous -- e.g. if I ran IP over a radio frequency, then what? What category am I in?
FTFA:
"Congress has historically come down on the side of the broadcasters in this debate, saying that radio stations can play whatever music they want while paying only a relatively small amount of money to songwriters and publishers for the right to "perform" the song on-air--and not paying record companies at all.
"Similarly, the right of consumers to tape songs off the radio has generally been held to be fair use.
"However, when Congress set the rules for Internet and other digital broadcasts in 1998, it gave record companies the right to royalties from Internet and satellite radio broadcasts. That's set up a patchwork of different rules for different new media companies, even as technology has brought the way consumers use their services more closely together."
http://www.thebricktestament.com/the_law/when_to_
Fair use or not, the Slashdot article says:
"They're worried that users will prefer to record the high-quality audio (for free) to buying a download or CD."
And on Wikipedia, for XM satellite radio, the only one I checked, it says:
"Due to lack of bandwidth and too many channels, the maximum bitrate XM broadcast from its satellite per music channel is limited to 64kbs."
Therefore, this is all B.S. since 64 kbps is not generally considered to be high-quality.
I'm your huckleberry
Actually, "fair use" is based on the ol' First Amendment. It was first introduced in the early 1800s.
The ruling that recording "broadcast" TV constitutes fair use however dates to Betamax.
In other words, fair use isn't going anywhere, but the current statute defines it more broadly than the courts require under freedom of speech/press.
I call bullshit
http://harveydanger.com/downloads/
I had no idea who they were before I downloaded their free album, and now I have developed a bit of a liking for some of their songs, so I would consider buying the other albums or seeing them in concert.