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UK Recording Industry Wants Allofmp3 An Issue at G8
alveraan writes "According to a the BBC, 'the UK recording industry is urging the foreign secretary to raise the issue of Russian bargain music download website allofmp3.com at the G8 summit'. British Phonographic Industry (BPI) chairman Peter Jamieson wants Margaret Beckett to 'urge the Russian government to take action against the operators of the site by insisting that it is removed from the internet'. Allofmp3 has insisted in the past that it is operating in compliance with Russian copyright laws."
The G8 summit is gathering of the worlds most powerful leaders to discuss important topics.
From the agenda page:
This year, we plan to urge our partners to redouble efforts to ensure global energy security. We believe that today, it is crucial to find a solution to a problem which directly influences the social and economic development of all countries, without exception.
I am convinced that our efforts towards attaining this goal should be comprehensive and must stimulate stabilization of the global energy markets, development of innovation technologies, use of renewable energy sources and protection of the environment. We believe that today, we must think very seriously about ways to bridge the gap between energy-sufficient and energy-lacking countries.
The spread of all kinds of epidemics in the world emphasizes the need to step up the fight against infectious diseases. We are convinced that the creation of a global system to monitor dangerous diseases, the development of regular interaction between experts from different states, and broader exchange of research information about dangerous viruses will have a major positive influence on the solution of these serious problems.
In addition to the current agenda, we also plan to raise the issue of education in the G8. In our opinion, the time has come to focus on ways to improve the quality and effectiveness of national education systems and professional training. We must find tools for encouraging the international business community to increase investment into this sector.
Other major international issues we will concentrate on during Russia's Presidency are counterterrorism and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, the settlement of regional conflicts, the development of the global economy, finance and trade, as well as protection of the environment.
This is about saving lives and fixing major things wrong with the world and should not be bothering about some fucking music website.
liqbase
in Russia it is legal under # 006/3M-05 of the Rightholders Federation for Collective Copyright Management of Works Used Interactively and legal in England under Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (c. 48) - section 22... on 1st September they might change the law in Russia (so I'm going to spend all my credit there before then).
You can find info about it, and links to the acts, on wikipedia.
*''I can't believe it's not a hyperlink.''
You know...I keep hearing people say that, but, I make WAY less than that...and I did see my fed. taxes drop.
Now..if they could just get me out of that damned ponzi scheme they call social security, I'd be all over that. I'd sign over my rights to everything I've contributed so far, just to get out of the program, and take what I'd normally contribute to my own retirmement investment plan...
But, that's another debate entirely.
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
1. I'm in a band. I don't bitch about people sharing my music.
2. Most "big" bands also don't bitch about people sharing their music.
3. I don't bitch about wanting those peoples efforts for less money, most recorded music is shit, and I either buy or download the rest depending on various factors.
4. I don't bitch about outsourcing either.
Copyright law before the collapse of the Soviet Union:
- All copyrights created in the Soviet Union are owned by the government.
- All other copyrights are owned by the government in the Soviet Union.
- These laws do not apply to Tetris.
Copyright law since the collapse:
- All copyrights are owned by whomever can find them in the files of the bureaucracy formerly known as the government of the Soviet Union.
- This law does not apply to Tetris.
===
Beyond the humor, does anybody know anything about Russian copyright laws? Do they have any? If so, how do they handle copyrighted material from other countries? If they have escaped the Berne Convention by dissolving their government, can they stay free? Can we (the U.S.) use the same method to escape? Even if Russia signs/has signed the Berne Convention, can they apply for the "Developing Country" exemption clauses?
[Please wait for research...]
Unfortunately, Russia surrendered to the Berne Convention in March, 1995. The U.S surrendered in 1988 (effective in 1989). Brunei is the latest victim; they are not afflicted with the terms of the Berne Convention until August.
OT: Any country may denounce the Berne Convention 5 years after it is in force, with the expiration of force taking effect 1 year after the official denounciation. Can I send the notification on behalf of the U.S.?
I could not find a list of countries taking advantage of the "Developing Country" clauses, but the clauses seem to have expired on Jan 1, 2006.
Applying this to the discussion, Russian copyright law must include the awful terms of the Berne Convention, so Allofmp3 must respect the copyrights of creators in the United Kingdom (founding member, 1887). From the article, Allofmp3 states it complies by paying royalties to 2 Russian organizations. The issue is those organization do not have the right to license works from other countries, and are not paying any royalties outside Russia.
I spend my life entertaining my brain.
"And the more they push it, the more people will hear about allofmp3.com. Some of them may visit the site, and see how cheap it is to distribute music online. They may start to realise that it's possible to distribute that 99 iTunes track for 10, cover all distribution costs, and still make a profit."
I was at Best Buy the other day, looking at large flat panel monitors. They were nice, but I just couldn't justify buying one for $1,000. Then when I was in the parking lot, a scruffy looking kid called me over to his car. His trunk was open, and he had some monitors that had "fallen off the truck". And they were only $100! This guy has really shown Best Buy that it's possible to sell a $1,000 monitor for $100, cover all distribution costs, and still make a profit.
"They may start wondering if the recording industry really deserves to be getting 90/track for music that was recorded decades ago by people who are now dead, of if they deserve a 900% profit margin."
It is not mathematically possible to have a profit margin of more than 100%. ITYM "900% markup." But is your issue that record companies charge the same price for music by dead people as they do by people who have not yet shed this mortal coil? If so, do you only pirate music by dead people? A related question: Magnatune allows you to download a CD's worth of music for as low as $5. That's still several X the price of music on the Russian sites. Do you think that this makes Magnatune greedy? At least the traditional record companies will front the artists the production money; Magnatune does no such thing. Do you think they deserve to charge so much?
Smart people -- on both sides of the piracy debate -- know that the record industry is hugely competitive and highly speculative, and that the reality is that net profit margins are actually quite low. With the exception of the big media conglomerates that happen to have recording company arms (and you shouldn't be buying music from them anyway), it's exceedlingly rare to find a record company in the Fortune 500, and the reality is that most record companies are like Magnatune -- they have very small staffs and everybody is generally over-worked and under-paid. This is why there's an inherent issue with flying the "the record companies are greedy" flag when making the choice to pirate or use the Russian sites. At the least, there's the karma issue: it's easy for us to declare that somebody is greedy or makes too much money by some arbitrarily standard when considering whether we're going to violate their rights. But no matter how much money we make, somebody with less money than us just might make that same arbitrary decision about us.
Sitting in my day care, the art is decopainted.
That's because muslims are all idiots. People in the west need to wake up, muslims are not looking for compromise or a fair deal, they want world domination. Any non-muslim is their enemy and they have proven their willingness to follow through on this philosophy time and time again but we still have fucked up idiots in the west calling for tolerance. The only reason the muslims want tolerance is to gain time to regroup to attack again.
Hopefully Isreal puts many muslims in their graves.
BPI contact details. If you feel strongly about this, how about writing to them to let them know? Try and keep it polite though, as I suspect that flames aren't likely to flow up the org-chart ;)
It is not piracy in russia.
They pay their license fees just like radio stations and music retailers do in the states..
just because the price for their compulsory license fees is much lower, and the PBI/RIAA is greedy, doesnt mean it's illegal or wrong.
VLC FOR MAC IS DYING! IF YOU DEVELOP, PLEASE SAVE IT!!