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CRIA Falling Apart?

An anonymous reader writes "Apparently, the CRIA (Canadian Recording Industry Association) has been falling apart recently. The biggest blow occurred when 6 major Canadian independent labels quit which was followed by some problems with the Copyright Board. Of course, this is all happening after the whole Sam Bulte incident. The article explains what happened with plenty of links for specific information."

39 of 242 comments (clear)

  1. On behalf of Canadian Musicians... by themusicgod1 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Victory is Ours!
    BwahahahahahahahA!!!!!!11

    --
    GENERATION 26: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation.
    1. Re:On behalf of Canadian Musicians... by fbjon · · Score: 3, Funny

      He was merely describing the joyfulness in the air, as they go down in a CRIA of pain.

      --
      True confidence comes not from realising you are as good as your peers, but that your peers are as bad as you are.
    2. Re:On behalf of Canadian Musicians... by Pieroxy · · Score: 2, Interesting

      What is the Sam Bulte incident anyway? (Not trolling, I just don't know)

    3. Re:On behalf of Canadian Musicians... by hswerdfe · · Score: 4, Informative

      from what I can gather from the "InterWeb"

      http://www.lpco.ca/sambulte/about.aspx
      http://www.michaelgeist.ca/index.php?option=com_co ntent&task=view&id=1058&Itemid=89&nsub
      http://www.boingboing.net/2006/01/23/hollywoods_mp _loses_.html

      she is a former MP for the liberals who got lots of funding from the hollywood, and was in favour of stronger copy right.

      she lost her bid for re-election.

      --
      --meh--
  2. Tear down the wall! Tear down the wall! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful
    Tear down the wall! Tear down the wall! Tear down the wall!

    We are the listeners!

  3. Confused by wolf369T · · Score: 3, Funny

    Oh, it's *CRIA*... I thought it was *RIAA* :(

  4. Not to worry, true believers! They'll be back by BadAnalogyGuy · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The current situation is just that they want to distance themselves from the bad press of the moment, eh. In a year or so they'll be back and better than ever, the hosers.

  5. Artists just want to be heard by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Most artists just want to be heard.
    Their music should be considered free advertising for their art form, and hope to get enough interest to then go on tour.
    It saves them time running around town sticking flyers up on walls.
    P2P networks provide the free distribution.
    Artists win by selling concert tickets, putting on a great show so people want to come back, and sell t-shirts, posters.
    They get 100% of the revenue and greedy corporate bastards have to go find a new job that actually creates products.
    Why isn't the old school gone yet?

  6. Oh noes. by LordLucless · · Score: 5, Funny

    CRIA me a river.

    --
    Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean there isn't an invisible demon about to eat your face
    1. Re:Oh noes. by zaguar · · Score: 2, Funny
      My lawyers and you need to talk.

      Sincerely,
      Justin Timberlake.

      --
      "Sure there's porn and piracy on the Web but there's probably a downside too."
  7. Same shit different pile by themusicgod1 · · Score: 2, Informative

    both are merely fronts for the interests of their umbrella group

    Progress against any of them is progress against all of them. With any luck, a sufficient defeat in Canada will allow Canada to get a foothold in the world music industry for the near future as the old guard is defeated in a long series of battles.

    --
    GENERATION 26: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation.
    1. Re:Same shit different pile by ozmanjusri · · Score: 4, Informative
      Hmm... you think that if the IFPI wanted us to take them seriously at all, they'd have what the hell that stands for *somewhere* on their website.

      Will you take them seriously now that you know IFPI stands for "International Federation of the Phonograph Industry"? It's an appropriately anachronistic name for an organisation determined to block progress in music distribution.

      --
      "I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."
    2. Re:Same shit different pile by dwandy · · Score: 5, Insightful
      too many lies to count... but anyways...

      Copyright is the means by which a person or a business makes a living from creativity.

      not today. Today copyright is how businesses steal 'ownership' from artists.

      Copyright also protects culture ...

      bullsh*t. Copyright puts culture under the lock and key of a corporation for their own profit, not for the protection of the culture. There's plenty of culture that is currently unavailable to us because the 'owner' doesn't see a profit. how exactly is that 'protecting' it in any good way?

      ...and fosters artistic integrity.

      right. that's why when an artist is signed to a label who owns them and their work they always remain true to their roots and never produce works as they are told to. sure.

      This gives talented people the incentive to create great works...

      Firstly, there is absolutely no evidence that without copyright 'great works' would not be created, in fact shakespear worked without the benefit of copyright, and has arguably created some of the greatest works of all time. Secondly; talented, creative people can no more not-create than they can not-breathe. It's in their blood. It consumes them. It drives them. They require no outside incentive.
      And if it's all about incentive, how does retroactively extending copyright (Sonny Bono Copyright act) increase their incentive? It's already made! no further 'incentive' is necessary... Clearly it's about money, not creativity.

      Copyright has underpinned an extraordinary modern economic success story, accounting for tens of millions of jobs worldwide.

      There's two possibilities here: Either copyright has created the correct number of jobs (i.e. the same as without) or copyright has created an innefficient system where the consumer is paying too much (in order to pay for the bloat, i.e. the *extra* jobs created)
      If it's the first case, than copyright has done nothing, and is irrelevent. If it's the second, than we have done ourselves and economic disservice...

      The dramatic growth of the artistic, cultural and other creative industries in today's major economies would have been impossible without the strong levels of copyright protection that those countries have developed over many decades.

      Proof please.
      Again, there is absolutely no evidence that copyright has in any way increased the quantity of artisitic creativity anywhere. What there is, is proof that creativity happens without copyright, and there is proof that copyright generates monopoly profits for corporations who become larger and more powerful and demand tighter copyright controls for their own profits.
      I'm going to postulate that the real reason that there is more recorded art today is for a few other reasons:

      • Increased leisure time for the masses (increases both the time for people to create and consume art)
      • Increased ease of access (thanks to recordings, and modern transportation, including the steam engine, internal combustion engine, the airplane and last (but not leastly) digital media and digital transports),
      • Decreased creation costs. Joe six-pack can have a semi-professional recording studio in his basement, write a book and self publish etc etc. i.e. The production costs have dropped to really really cheap

      I would argue that the creative work that will have the most impact on society this century will have been created largely by people who will never be monetarily compensated, will be consumed by people who will never even say thanks, and yet will continue to evolve, to be worked on and yes to be monetized. That creative work is known as GNU/Linux, but comprises a larger scope of work that can also be called Open Source, or Free Software.

      So all we really do get

      --
      If you think imaginary property and real property are the same, when does your house become public domain?
    3. Re:Same shit different pile by dwandy · · Score: 2, Insightful
      too bad you're AC ... hope you find this response nonetheless.

      if you re-phrased this as "not today. Today copyright is how some businesses steal 'ownership' from some artists.", you'd be better off.
      Sure. You can liberally add "some" to various statements if it makes you feel better. By the absence of the word "all" the word "some" can be implied, I've got no issue with that. Certainly there are businesses out there that don't completely f*!over their artists, but we're not really talking about the minority here.

      In addition, it puts it under lock and key for individuals that wish to protect their creations - are you arguing that they shouldn't be permitted to do so?
      Well, I'm saying that the only protection you need is the right not to release it. It will be 100% protected if it's not released. Now I know that people will instantly jump on this and say that I'm obviously deranged/mean/I-suck, whatever. Then people will say that it is precisely to get the music released that we have copyright, and without copyright we lose that music (by the very logic I just used).
      The problem is that it doesn't actually work that way.
      Artists make art, and when they start, before they get corrupted by a big corporation in a fancy cadilac car, they have only this music inside them that needs to get out. Sure, once someone comes and offers them a ton of cash (or seems to offer them a ton of cash) why not take it?

      The truth is, all most people that whine about copyright abuse on the part of corporations do is just that: Whine.
      Well, that is what it's called when the public does it. When the C/RIAA does it it's called lobbying, and is well funded.
      "Clearly it's about money, not creativity."
      You say that as though it is a bad thing, and as though the two are diametrically opposed. They aren't, nor need they be
      hmm ... I'm going to say that they are opposed ... quite possibly diametrically opposed. If creativity is subject to profitability, doesn't profitablilty dictate what is creative?
      And, there's absolutely no evidence that it hasn't. See how easy it is to say things like that?
      Correct. I never argued it did, merely that we are paying a system to incent creativity when creativity exists without copyright.
      --
      If you think imaginary property and real property are the same, when does your house become public domain?
  8. Why do they have so much power in the first place? by pimpimpim · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Ok, it might be a bit naive, but for god's sake, this is an association of record labels. How come they have the right to decide about having a levy on cd's or not? Something went horribly wrong here...

    Now of course lobbying groups with lots of money get lots of stuff organized for themselves, but here it seems like all legislation concerning music-copyright is more or less directly taken over from the record companies. That's like taking all environmental legislation over from either greenpeace or chemical industry.

    I think the biggest mistakes are from the government of giving so much one-sided power to industry instead of being a representative of the people as they were actually chosen to be. Yeah, I know, reality is different, but it just still amazes me, maybe I'll get more desillusionized (reality-numbed) as I grow older.

    --
    molmod.com - computing tips from a molecular modeling
  9. Re:Not to worry, true believers! They'll be back by Gorshkov · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The current situation is just that they want to distance themselves from the bad press of the moment, eh. In a year or so they'll be back and better than ever, the hosers.

    Probably not, actually. The labels that left, although they do have a few well-known acts, generally have small, relativly unknown artists in their stables ... and those artists tend to be in *favour* of downloads as it increases their exposure.

    They're simply doing what's best for their business, not what's best for Sony.

  10. Summary by Trojan35 · · Score: 2

    A note:

    A summary that says "the article explains it" is not very useful to me, or anyone really.

  11. I actually agree with the CRIA on something.. by d_jedi · · Score: 3, Interesting

    They want to get rid of the private copying levy. Well, hell.. that's been a long time coming.. especially since they were the ones who pushed for it in the first place.

    I agree with this sentiment, although for different reasons. Why the hell should I be paying a private (music) copying levy for a CD-R that I buy which will never contain any music?

    If this means that Canadians lose the legal right to download music on P2P sites, I think this is a fair compromise. After all, most of the P2P sites are crap nowadays, anyway.. infected with bogus files by the RIAA surrogates and "traffic shaped" by our ISPs.

    --
    I am the maverick of Slashdot
  12. Some artists just want to be heard... by MaestroSartori · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Because what you said it isn't true, at least not for all musicians. See, you have to separate the love of the art we have from our desirve to live a decent quality of life. Us musicians don't just want to make music for everyone's enjoyment, you see. Some of us want to eat as well!

    Many musicians, especially big popular artists of course, want to sell music, and make their living from that. They don't consider their music to be advertising - they may rarely play a gig, they may never want to go on tour, but they may still love making music and want to be able to make a living from it.

    Sadly, the people who mask their desire to download music for free from P2P networks claim they're doing it to "fight the man", destroy the evil record labels and so on. That's fine, as far as it goes, but it's an excuse and nothing more. It won't help people like me - I'm a solo musician who plays several instruments, but I'm not in a band. I can record stuff I could never play live. I've enjoyed gigging, but I don't think I'd like to tour really. But why shouldn't I make a living selling music?

    If I wanted to sell my music, I'd like people to respect my wishes. If they don't, and I'm relying on making money from my music to live, then I'm fucked and I won't make as much more (if any) because I'll need a job to pay the rent. Which is why I've skipped trying to make a living from music, and instead I'm a games programmer who makes music in his spare time.

    1. Re:Some artists just want to be heard... by BadAnalogyGuy · · Score: 5, Funny

      Us musicians don't just want to make music for everyone's enjoyment, you see. Some of us want to eat as well!

      You fucking selfish asshole.

    2. Re:Some artists just want to be heard... by Znork · · Score: 4, Insightful

      "want to be able to make a living from it."

      Yes, well, I'll betcha there's a bunch of people who'd like to be able to make a living from posting slashdot comments. That doesnt mean it's in the public interest to finance it.

      If they 'love making music', to be utterly and horrifically frank, they'd still do it without copyright, and a free market would be better spending resources on other things, as the music would get done _anyway_. You dont get paid for doing what you want, no matter how much you'd like to, you get paid for doing what someone else wants. Only if you're very lucky do they coincide.

      It's the laws of supply and demand, and with anything that's infinitely duplicatable at near zero cost, the supply outpaces the demand fairly soon; there are only so many hours per day to listen to music, and it's not a resource that needs repeated production (while touring and performing music actually is, which makes it vastly more suitable to make money from in a market economy).

      That said, I personally do think it's in the public interest to finance the arts beyond what the true market value is. But it should be done not through monopoly rights on works, but through levies off those profiting from the duplication, fixation in media, performance and distribution of those materials. IE, let anyone and everyone copy, perform, sell, and do whatever they want with copyrighted material (keeping attribution intact), but tax the revenue of the record companies, bands and orchestras performing live, CD duplicators, etc, and divide the revenue among the original creators so they can spend more time creating.

    3. Re:Some artists just want to be heard... by Jugalator · · Score: 3, Interesting

      In relation to my sig, the day I will fully respect musicians' preferences to earn money on their music will be the same day my rights to play my purchased music won't be stolen by a third party. I will give you peace and understanding if the feeling is mutual.

      --
      Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
    4. Re:Some artists just want to be heard... by Jah-Wren+Ryel · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I can record stuff I could never play live. I've enjoyed gigging, but I don't think I'd like to tour really. But why shouldn't I make a living selling music?

      You aren't asking the right question.

      The right question is - "Why shouldn't you be able to earn a living making music?"

      The answer is - you should be able to try.

      Just like when Joe the Office Peon goes to work for 8 hours, he gets paid for 8 hours of office droning. If his employer takes the reports that Joe wrote and distributes copies to everyone in the company and all of their customers, Joe does not get paid anything for each of those copies.

      Just like when Bob the Construction Hand builds a bathroom, he gets paid for building the bathroom. But Bob does not get paid everytime someone uses that bathroom to take a crap.

      You should be paid to produce a recording of music - by the hour or by the song, or whatever. But once the actual work of making the music is over, you don't deserve to get paid anything more. You don't deserve to get paid every time somebody makes a copy of the music nor do you deserve to get paid every time somebody listens to that music either.

      Just like Joe, Bob and 99.99% of the rest of the working public you deserve to get paid for the actual work that you do. In effect, we all work on comission - being a musician (or an actor, or writer, or key grip, or scene painter or a wardrobe specialist, etc) doesn't mean you deserve special treatment.

      --
      When information is power, privacy is freedom.
    5. Re:Some artists just want to be heard... by gowen · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The battleground isn't about musicians "being able to make a living from it", but rather whether they can make a living from it in perpetuity.

      If I repair your car today - no matter how good a job I do - you pay me once, and I get to eat today. If your car keeps running for another 20 years, you don't have to to keep giving me royalties because of what a great job I did. Hell, even a doctor only gets paid once for a life saving operation.

      However, if I make a hit album today, the RIAA, CRIA think that I should be allowed [or, more importantly, they should be allowed] to live off the proceeds of that record for the remainder of my natural life, as can my family for 50+ years after my death.

      Why are creative people rewarded in perpetuity, when doctors don't?
      Because creative people get to write legislation.

      --
      Athletic Scholarships to universities make as much sense as academic scholarships to sports teams.
    6. Re:Some artists just want to be heard... by Digital+Vomit · · Score: 4, Insightful
      See, you have to separate the love of the art we have from our desirve [sic] to live a decent quality of life....They don't consider their music to be advertising - they may rarely play a gig, they may never want to go on tour, but they may still love making music and want to be able to make a living from it.

      So, they want to make a decent living without having to work? Join the club. People who slave away for 8-10 hours every day are so sick and tired of hearing about musicians whine and complain that they can't make millions of dollars off of a few days or weeks worth of work.

      You want to make a living making music? Fine. Work for eight hours a day, five days a week like the rest of us. Don't expect any kind of everlasting income from a single recording of music.

      --
      Modern copyright is theft of culture from everyone and it retards the progress of the useful arts and sciences.
    7. Re:Some artists just want to be heard... by adam.dorsey · · Score: 2, Funny

      Because creative people get to write legislation.

      BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAhaha...*snort* HAHAHHAHAHAHA!

      Dude, that was a bad slip. I mean, creative people? That's like the worst misspelling of "rich executives that like to screw the little guy" that I've ever seen.

      The people that do write the legislation are heavily influenced by the money coming into their pockets by entertainment industry lobbyists. The laws serve the RIAA/CRIA people, not the artists.

      I can't remember now, it's been so long since I've heard, but isn't it something like only 5-10% of an album actually goes to the artist? The whole thing is set up to support the executives while screwing the artists with shitty contracts and crappy record deals.

      --
      You are still innocent until proven guilty. What's changed is what they do to innocent people. - notnAP, #26891325
    8. Re:Some artists just want to be heard... by Idarubicin · · Score: 4, Insightful
      Just like when Bob the Construction Hand builds a bathroom, he gets paid for building the bathroom. But Bob does not get paid everytime someone uses that bathroom to take a crap.

      Just like when Neal Stephenson the Author writes a book, he gets paid for writing the book. But Neal does not get paid every time someone...wait...what?

      Shockingly, different industries have different models for compensation.

      You should be paid to produce a recording of music - by the hour or by the song, or whatever. But once the actual work of making the music is over, you don't deserve to get paid anything more. You don't deserve to get paid every time somebody makes a copy of the music nor do you deserve to get paid every time somebody listens to that music either.

      Then where's the incentive to write a good book that people want to read? If you're lucky, you'll get paid on the basis of what your last book earned...but I'm pretty sure this would just be an opportunity for book publishers to screw authors--particularly new authors.

      While there are obvious and gross deficiencies in the implementation of intellectual property law in the United States (and elsewhere), the analogies used to advance arguments here on Slashdot seem to be equally flawed today.

      --
      ~Idarubicin
    9. Re:Some artists just want to be heard... by vertinox · · Score: 2, Informative

      Because what you said it isn't true, at least not for all musicians. See, you have to separate the love of the art we have from our desirve to live a decent quality of life. Us musicians don't just want to make music for everyone's enjoyment, you see. Some of us want to eat as well!

      Take if from me (I own an Indie label).

      If you want to make a living from just CD sales and not bothering to make T-shirts and go on tours like most musicians... Well... You are horribly mistaken.

      We make more money on T-shirts and without going to shows we'd never sell any CDs.

      --
      "I am the king of the Romans, and am superior to rules of grammar!"
      -Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor (1368-1437)
    10. Re:Some artists just want to be heard... by Sentry21 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Your argument is flawed.

      You compare a one-time service to a succession of purchases. If you fix my car I pay you once and I don't have to pay you ever again. If you buy my CD, you pay me once and don't have to pay me ever again.

      People in this thread seem to be suggesting that an artist should only get paid once for a song. Ok, sure, so I create an album, I get paid for it (what, $15? for a year's work or more?) and then if I want any more money, I have to create a new album?

      You're suggesting that patrons of the arts (as a whole) should only have to compensate an artist once. Should prints available at the Louvre be free? I mean, the artist has already been paid for their painting, right?

      Without copyright licensing (and copyright expiration, grrr Disney), then the creative process becomes something that people can only do in their spare time, when they're not working at their day jobs. I hate to tell you, but making art is not exactly an easy process. You don't just sit down and think 'I know, I'll make a hit single!' and then spend a few hours a night for the rest of the week polishing it up. It takes hard work, it takes passion, it takes enthusiasm.

      Suddenly we're back to the FSF's concept of software. People should never be paid to write software, it all wants to be free! So work shitty day jobs, and then write software in your spare time. The flaw in that analogy is that paid, directed work accomplishes more than loosely-organised communities of hackers ever have. Cases in point: Apache (Apache foundation), PHP (Zend), MySQL (MySQL AB), Linux (RedHat, Suse, IBM, Sun, etc), and so on).

      So we should not contribute to the artists that make music we wish to listen to? They should give us their creativity for free? We should not have to pay for performances? If you honestly think this, then you don't understand what art is all about.

    11. Re:Some artists just want to be heard... by ??? · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Why *do* so many people seem to have this base-level objection to paying for recording music?

      I object to paying for duplications of recorded music (which is what is being sold) because they have next to no intrinsic value.

      Copyright law has the effect of creating an artificial business model. It allows duplicators (the record labels) to create a tie between the creative process (which has intrinsic value due to scarcity) and the duplicates of the product of that process (which have next to no intrinsic value because of practically zero marginal cost). Exclusively because of the force of the state, the duplicators can then extort a price for their (next-to) zero-value product. This creates a fundamentally distorted market.

      Not only is this distorted market bad for consumers, it is bad for artists as well. While their process is the only thing with intrinsic value in the system, the business model turns things on their head. The creative process is a cost-centre, not a revenue-centre in this model. New development is only funded insofar as it can increase the artificially-tied duplication business. This results in the lack of diversity apparent in the industry now. What is more, because the current artificial business-model is vastly lucrative (for the duplicators) and artists are locked in usurious contracts with the duplicators, development, discussion and examination of alternative natural business models are stifled.

      What (natural) business models have worked for funding the creative process in the past? Certainly, patronage has a history, though it seems that the connection between those that benefit from the process and those that pay for the process is tenuous at best. It seems that society at large benefits from the creative process, so perhaps the search for a business model should start there. I am not suggesting the formation of a business model based on state support here - the state serves as a weak proxy for society at large... hmmm... any thoughts?

    12. Re:Some artists just want to be heard... by Spinalcold · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Ok, I'm tired of people commenting that musicians don't work for a living. Creating music that people enjoy and that you yourself enjoy is hard work, just like a carpenter building furniture that people will enjoy and something that they will be proud of creating. Proforming that music is hard work, I play extreme metal as a vocalist and lead guitar and playing that fast, screaming that hard and expressing myself that much for an hour or more leaves a person completely exhausted. It takes a lot more effort and integrety to do that then come here to this office job and work 8 hours a day. Record and mixing music is really hard as well, I didn't realize how hard until I recorded my last album and spend time and time again going over the same thing until it was right and then sitting on the mixing board listing to the same song all day until it sounded good.

      Just like a carpenter can enjoy building cabinents or tables, or a cook can enjoy cooking, what they do is what they enjoy and if they had another job, they would do that on their own time. If they can make money doing what they enjoy, why can't musicians make money doing what they want? Or how about authors, they get paid for their books. I am also in a writting group where I have been writting stories for 7 years, none of this will ever be published and I won't make money on it. But if I chose to publish something, why can't I make money off it?

      Being a musician is not all the fun and glory you may think it is. It takes a lot of time, money and effort and not everyone can do it (not everyone can be a carpenter or a programer either). I'm just tired of people saying for us to get a day job, most of us do and most of us are struggling to get out of it so that we can create more better music.

    13. Re:Some artists just want to be heard... by DrRobert · · Score: 2, Interesting

      A creation does have perpetual value. Whether that is monetary or not is another question. Personally I would be for very short copyright 25 years or so, analagous to patents on new drugs (16 years to make your money). In exchange for the shortened copyright, I would fully criminalize copyright violations so that they consitute theft (legally and not just morally) and are punishable by police action and not just civil action. That system would increase value to the copyright holder in that it would be more stictly enforced and increase value to the society in that the works would be widely available for public benefit sooner. The modifications to the law would also need to include provisions that intermediate agencies could not benefit without explicit contracts from the copyright holder, in other words no money should be collected except that going to the holder, minus some small fee for the collection, but that would need to be spelled out by contract.

    14. Re:Some artists just want to be heard... by smoker2 · · Score: 3, Insightful
      Without copyright licensing (and copyright expiration, grrr Disney), then the creative process becomes something that people can only do in their spare time, when they're not working at their day jobs. I hate to tell you, but making art is not exactly an easy process. You don't just sit down and think 'I know, I'll make a hit single!' and then spend a few hours a night for the rest of the week polishing it up. It takes hard work, it takes passion, it takes enthusiasm.
      And most importantly, it takes luck. A hit single exists only because the fickle public like it and buy it. You could spend a year "creating" a piece of shit , but under your rationale, we should still have to pay you in perpituity just because it's "what you do" !
      So we should not contribute to the artists that make music we wish to listen to? They should give us their creativity for free? We should not have to pay for performances?
      Classic straw man. As was your crack about only getting $15 for an album. If that album sold 1 million copies, you stand to get $15,000,000. Does that cover your expenses for a year, in any way, at all, hmmmm ?

      But no, apparently, not only do you get to make $15M for 1 years work, you get to make money from that years work, for the rest of your life ! And if anybody dares to suggest that maybe you've had enough, you start complaining that your fucking family won't be able to survive without the income from a 20 year old lucky break ! Last I heard, families of lottery winners can not expect a regular payout from the lottery.

      Breathe ......

      If I'm ranting, it's because I saw a BBC news article yesterday, where some pimply lawyer was asking for the UK copyright laws to be brought into line with the US, because it simply isn't fair that people who made a record in the sixties, can't expect their entire line of descendants to ponce off it !

      Colour me disgusted.

      In fact, I don't care if they extend copyright to infinity, it will only cause me never to buy another cd/dvd ever again. Wonder how much money great-nephew Larry (on the mothers sisters brother-in-laws side) will be able to expect then ?

      It's funny, someone wrote a song which said "Pop will eat itself". How ironic.

      If you honestly think this, then you don't understand what art is all about.
      Bwhaa haah haaa haaah haaahahaha ! And you do do you ? Apparently "Art" is all about making money, when all along I thought it was about self expression.

      Did Michelangelo get paid for painting the Sistine Chapel ? Why yes he did ! Did Michelangelo get paid every time somebody looked at the ceiling in the Sistine Chapel ? No, no he didn't.

      Last I heard, Michelangelo is considered a great artist.

    15. Re:Some artists just want to be heard... by shark72 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      "If I repair your car today - no matter how good a job I do - you pay me once, and I get to eat today. If your car keeps running for another 20 years, you don't have to to keep giving me royalties because of what a great job I did. Hell, even a doctor only gets paid once for a life saving operation."

      The basis here is that musicians, poets and authors are typically the three lowest-paying jobs. There's little or no job security. By comparison, it is relatively easy to make a steady income if you are a trained mechanic or doctor.

      "However, if I make a hit album today, the RIAA, CRIA think that I should be allowed [or, more importantly, they should be allowed] to live off the proceeds of that record for the remainder of my natural life, as can my family for 50+ years after my death."

      FYI, much of the long-term royalties that help pay the rent -- radio airplay, covers and the like -- are administered through ASCAP/BMI and the record companies see none of it.

      "Why are creative people rewarded in perpetuity, when doctors don't?"

      Because -- as covered above -- trying to make a living in the creative arts can be very, very tough. It is by no means a guarantee of riches, or even a living wage.

      "Because creative people get to write legislation."

      Are you sure about that? I've known several authors, poets and musicians in my lifetime, and none of them have been involved in writing legislation.

      Are you also positive that the medical industry doesn't have an effect on legislation? The pharmaceutical industry alone (which has a lobbying group that's distinct from the the medical device lobby, the HMO lobby, and so on) spent $44MM in 2003 and 2004 just on state officials. If this contradicts your understanding that the medical profession does not have an effect on legislation, please let me know.

      --
      Sitting in my day care, the art is decopainted.
    16. Re:Some artists just want to be heard... by shark72 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      "Not quite, I've bought your album once on vinyl, paying you for the material cost of making the record and for your creativity. Then I purchased your album again on 8-track, you again got paid for your creativity."

      That's correct. If you would like one copy of an album, it'll cost you $13-$15 or so. If you would like to buy five copies, the store will charge you $75. If you would like to buy one CD of the clean version, one CD of the explicit version, and three copies of the cassette version, that's also $75.

      "When CDs came out even though the manufacturing cost of a disc is miniscule and you didn't activate a single, new creativity neuron, I again had to pay you full price for the same creativity I purchased twice in the past."

      I'm not sure I follow. Are you of the understanding that the manufacturing cost is a majority portion of the cost of sale? That's not correct for many industries (including the computer peripherals industry) and it's certainly not the case with CDs.

      I'm also not sure why you wrote "I again had to pay." It's your choice. If you would like the CD, buy it... if you don't want it... don't. You don't have the right to free copies in other formats (the same goes for painting, books, movies, and so on). If that were the case -- say, for example, with each CD you purchased you got a golden coupon that you could redeem in perpetuity for more copies -- that would have to be built into the initial sale price, and it would no longer be $13 - $15.

      --
      Sitting in my day care, the art is decopainted.
  13. What I want to know is... by StringBlade · · Score: 3, Interesting

    What needs to occur to cause major U.S. record labels to break away from the RIAA in the same fashion?

    I can only see this as a Good Thing(TM), but it seems like the CRIA is a mere shadow of the RIAA in terms of power and influence over legislation and the industry itself.

    --
    ...and that's the way the cookie crumbles.
  14. Nettwerk Records is awesome by bloosqr · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I run a synth podcast show and because of legal reasons have had many contacts w/ labels (me contacting them for permission, not them busting me) and I can not emphasize how cool the nettwerk label is :

    Check out their about page :

    Nettwerk Music Group is Canada's leading privately owned record label and artist management company. Nettwerk is responsible for managing some of Canada's biggest artists like Sarah McLachlan, Avril Lavigne, Barenaked Ladies and many others. Nettwerk has several offices located around the world including offices in New York, Los Angeles and London; with our main office right next to Granville Island in Vancouver, B.C.


    Litigation is destructive, it must stop .... as per Nettwerk copyrights, we have never sued anybody and all our music is open source to encourage fans to share it with others and help us promote our Artists. As per those Artists we manage on other labels (Majors), we take issue with those labels claiming that litigating our fans is in our interest, as it clearly is not.

    Even the smaller indie labels have not taken a stand as strong as Nettwerk has. Nettwerk is indie, but they carry Sarah Maclachlan, Delerium, Avril Lavigne and bands of that size, so they aren't exactly small.

  15. Re:Not to worry, true believers! They'll be back by Otter+Escaping+North · · Score: 5, Informative
    Probably not, actually. The labels that left, although they do have a few well-known acts, generally have small, relativly unknown artists in their stables ... and those artists tend to be in *favour* of downloads as it increases their exposure.

    Trust me, there really is some good in this world. Nettwerk has been one of the most critical labels of heavy-handed legal tactics. They're funding some RIAA defences, they were one of the first to leave the CIRA, and they aren't just a stable of artists that no one has heard of; Sarah McLachlan, Barenaked Ladies, Avril Lavigne.

    And they sell mp3s on their site. Not WMAs, not ACCs -- *mp3s*, no DRM.

    I'm a cynical bastard, too, but there's actually a few labels out there that get it. Don't sell them short.

    --
    Running Windows^H^H^H^H^H^H^H OSX and Linux in the home. (I don't have time for Solitaire any more.)
  16. Parent is mistaken by raddan · · Score: 4, Informative
    You leave out the most important part about Mozart's composing for money: he lived beyond his means. From Wikipedia:

    Because he was buried in a pauper's grave, it has been popularly assumed that Mozart was penniless and forgotten when he died. In fact, though he was no longer as fashionable in Vienna as before, he continued to have a well-paid job at court and receive substantial commissions from more distant parts of Europe, Prague in particular (citation needed). He earned about 10,000 florins per year, equivalent to at least 42,000 US dollars in 2006, which places him within the top 5 percent of late 18th century wage earners, but he could not manage his own wealth. His mother wrote, "When Wolfgang makes new acquaintances, he immediately wants to give his life and property to them." His impulsive largesse and spending often put him in the position of having to ask others for loans. Many of his begging letters survive but they are evidence not so much of poverty as of his habit of spending more than he earned. He was not buried in a "mass grave" but in a regular communal grave according to the 1784 laws.

    Copyright, as the money-making machine it is today, did not exist in Mozart's time (at least not in Europe-- the modern conception of copyright stems from UK law). Copyright may have existed informally, but unless I'm mistaken, it was not a part of law. Despite that Mozart make quite a good living from his music. Additionally, it was quite common-- and acceptable-- to compose "variations" on another composer's work. This practice is briefly mentioned in the quasi-fictional movie, Amadeus. But derivative works, though still technically permissible, are not often undertaken due to a threat of lawsuit and, from what I gather, not smiled upon by courts.

    But using Mozart's case to support an argument about modern times is pointless anyhow-- in the 18th century, you're talking about sheet music and a vast underclass that has little interest in copying it. Today, we have a huge population with disposible incomes and high-quality recordings that can be distributed at virtually no cost. The dynamics are quite different.