Slashdot Mirror
Canadian Music Industry Copyright Class Action Settled
limber writes "The largest Canadian copyright class action suit has been settled for $50 million. The offenders? The four labels comprising the Canadian Recording Industry Association — EMI, Sony Music, Universal Music, and Warner Music. Ahem."
The terms of the settlement are a compromise — anyone with works on the pending list can receive compensation while the music industry is absolved of further liability. The two major Canadian licensing agencies (CMRRA and SODRAC) will be tasked with improving the licensing process to prevent future abuse.
The CRIA has had years to pay these artists. Why would they start now?
Also notice how this is less than 1% of what the CRIA actually owes its artists. Settlements like this only encourage them to keep stiffing their artists.
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
Posting anonymously from work...
The two major Canadian licensing agencies (CMRRA and SODRAC) will be tasked with improving the licensing process to prevent future abuse.
Why do I get the feeling that means, instead of "the CMRRA and SODRAC will ensure the music industry doesn't make this mistake again", as I'm sure they'd like us to believe, that actually equates to "the CMRRA and SODRAC will ensure stricter copyright legislation so that the music industry has an easier time of controlling things and screwing over people"?... Why do I get the feeling the music industry actually won and the people of Canada got screwed?...
So, for willfully and illegally selling 300,000 works, the recording companies paid just $50 million, or $166 per song. And careful, that is per song, NOT per copy! So they are most likely giving a fraction of their illegally gotten gains - forget about any punitive damages, they probably even get to keep a lot of the stolen money!
Next time you are sharing a song online, make sure a) you make money of it b) you are a big corp.
Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent. Polar Scope Align for iOS
What about Nickleback? Oh wait, that just reenforces your point.
The record companies commit wholesale copyright infringement, and take the stance they should be allowed to do it and will settle the costs later.
The rest of us download a fucking Brittany Spears song and they want to sue us for eleventy trillion dollars.
I think it's time to start feeding recording executives to wild dogs -- they want draconian laws to make sure we can't do anything, but they just walk around them and pretend they didn't do anything wrong. Arrogant bastards.
I've said it before, if they keep extending this "copyright levy" to everything under the sun, I'm going to start pirating on a large scale. I'm already paying for it, I might as well get my money's worth.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
Every time the **AAs get up in front of government or the public to claim "support for the artists" this situation and others need to be brought up plainly and clearly. I know that like many here, those arguments made me laugh, then made me sick and now make me angry. They are simply lying with impunity on this matter and need to be taken to account. I would love for them to be questioned before the US congress to see if we can get some truth and/or perjury from them. That won't and can't happen fairly, though, as long as they are major contributors to both big parties and to nearly every elected official in office today.
50 million is a ripoff compared to the billions owed in backpay. That's equivalent to your boss saying, "I'll pay your $50 an hour," waiting years for your paycheck, and then he hands you a measly $5 an hour and says "Oops sorry." I would not have accepted it.
Worse - Since there are lawyers involved, the 50 million will probably shrink to 20 million that has to be distributed amongst the ~1 million singers owed money.
And these nonpaying a-holes in RIAA screw the singers, but they have the nerve to demand WE the customers pay for every single song we make a copy of - $1 if we download it, $1 if we burn it to a CD-R, $1 if we duplicate it across a 2nd PC, and so on.
GRRRR.
(I am a little bitter. Can you tell?)
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
If the artist can't be contacted, they can't file a lawsuit either. I don't think we're talking about orphan works here.
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
Yeah, but they gave us Rush, too, so we can forgive 'em for Ms. Dion at least.
Don't tell me to get a life. I'm a gamer; I have LOTS of lives!
So I guess the thing to do would be to not sell works when it is unclear how to do so legally. Especially when you're constantly suing people for copyright infringement.
If I can just reach out with my words and touch a butthole, just one, it will all be worth it.
"I don't think there is a Canadian recording artist that doesn't suck"
just off the top of my head ...
Neil Young
Leonard Cohen
Tragically Hip
Loreena McKennitt
KD Lang
Ian Tyson
Barenaked Ladies
Tom Cochrane
Minglewood Band
Powder Blues
Stampeders
Chilliwack
Anne Beverly Brown
Tom Phillips
Mae Moore
Lynn Miles
Buffy Sue St. Marie
Stan Rogers
Gordon Lightfoot
etc.
Which is difficult if the artist cannot be contacted.
Some of the artists on the list included Beyonce and Bruce Springsteen. Not exactly artists that are hard to find, that is if they bothered to try...
Atlas stands on the earth and carries the celestial sphere on his shoulders.
Dear Canada,
Please stop ending acronyms with an A. It's confusing. We don't know whether you're saying CMRReh, or whether its real name is CMRRA.
And no, saying CMRRAeh doesn't help. There might, for all we know (not that we care - Ed) be a CMRRAA.
Put it another way, how can you distinguish these guys from these guys?
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
~$6 billiion to ~$50 million, either there's a huge chunk of information missing, a large percentage of the represented class is going to opt out, or something is up. Obviously the vast majority of the class has no dire need for a short-changed payment, and can stand to sue individually, or as a group in order to get multiples of this settlement.
The corner of a round room
He's had a very successful carreer. He obviously won many awards. He's still Barry Manilow.
Grammar nazis are to this community what excrements are to gold.
You forgot Hannah Montana.
I know I had until you brought her up. Thanks a lot!!!
StarTrekPhase2 - The Five Year Mission Continues!
Which is difficult if the artist cannot be contacted.
Some of the artists on the list included Beyonce and Bruce Springsteen. Not exactly artists
that are hard to find, that is if they bothered to try...
The latter, at least, lives in New Jersey. They sent a courier with a cheque, but he turned back as he was afraid of getting a Snooki on him.
Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. -John Lennon