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Canadian Music Industry Calls For Internet Regulation, Website Blocking
An anonymous reader writes "Canadian law professor Michael Geist reports
that the Canadian arm of the RIAA is calling for new Internet
regulation, including website blocking and search result manipulation. While the Canadian music industry experienced increased digital sales last year (sales declined in the U.S.) and the Ontario government is handing out tens of millions of tax dollars to the industry, the industry now wants the government to step in with website blocking and ordering search companies to change their results to focus on iTunes and other sales sites."
So, basically a gun to people's heads while the other hand rifles through their pockets.
Greed. The one thing that's in truly infinite supply.
Chas - The one, the only.
THANK GOD!!!
a magic pony that lays gold eggs.
Requiem for the American Dream
They get a tax subsidy in Canada, new copyright legislation protecting broken-in-principle DRM and now they want search engines -- which make more money than them -- to be subservient to their industry. Wonderful.
---- The above post was generated by the Turing Institute. Maybe.
If they are really worried about piracy, they need to keep teens apart -- one of my teenaged relatives has a half dozen or so usb drives laying around with songs he's traded with various friends -- She's got a music library of over 10,000 songs (though oddly, she only seems to listen to 10 of those, over and over again). They trade entire music libraries at school, thousands of songs at a time. So no matter how tightly they lock down the internet, music will continue to be traded.
I'm a lost cause, the mainstream industry isn't likely to get much of my money no matter what they do. I'm well out of my teen years, and about the only albums I buy are for small regional artists, and I usually get them at concerts or direct from the artists. I already own several hundred CD's from the groups I listened to in my teens and 20's, and rarely hear a mainstream group I want to buy a CD from today -- Pandora and Spotify are good enough.
One word: Bieber
From the Fine Article ...
Music is becoming a hobby, not a career.
Translation: "We can no longer buy popularity with pop music and no longer manufacture the latest fad of boy-bands or girl-bands. These indie bands can do it cheaper, and that cuts us, the middle man, out of the picture! We don't get our fair share from YouTube, etc."
"Oh Noes! People are using this internet to freely share things and we aren't getting our cut ! Must maintain artificial scarcity of the source else we can't over-charge for numbers! Suckers! Er, mean, 'customers'."
Never mind the fact that the easier it is for people to find music, video, that is akin to free advertising.
Nah, let's shit on our potential customers and treat them like pseudo-thieves because "How dare they share something they value with someone else!"
Only cowards use censorship
Don't put us all in the same basket please. There's the Harper government and the idiots who elected them, and then there's the rest of us who just want them to fuck off and leave the country alone before we turn into the US but worse. There was a time where Canada was a leader in diplomacy, environment, science, copyright, social policies and much more. Now we're slaves to whatever industry Harper is licking the butt of at the time, any other consideration (such as the well-being of the citizens under his charge or the reputation of Canada outside of his cabinet) be damned.
...but I thought that the Canadian RIAA had a tax tacked onto blank storage media that was supposed to help pay for the pirated tracks. Did that disappear?
Just make music trading paraphernalia illegal
This is the TRUE solution. CD/DVDs, USB sticks and drives, computers.
All of if has to go. Shutdown the libraries. Burn the contents.
We MUST go back to the 50s where all music came from the good old music labels. They know good music and how to make it.
The church of Profits commands you! /S
It for the good of unborn artists in the future.
Obama's legacy: (N)othing (S)ecure (A)nywhere and (T)error (S)imulation (A)dministration
You know, we're not exactly happy about it either.
It's the Canadian copyright lobby, which is an arm of the US copyright lobby, petitioning government for a pony.
Once in Canada they get their pony, they can then go back to the US or to other countries and demand the same kind of pony.
Since US foreign policy and trade policy largely lets industry writes the briefings and the legislation (often quite literally), this is essentially US industries writing laws for their own benefit.
So, from our perspective, the US copyright lobby is really pissing us off, and it's another example of a business friendly government giving industry sweetheart deals stacked in their favor, and acting like it's a benefit for consumers and a win for the free market -- when in fact it's neither.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
The recording industry, the biggest bunch of middleman thieves ever, is finally losing its free ride. You don't NEED a record company anymore, you can be your own! If they didn't think they were dying they wouldn't be violently throwing tantrums everywhere - lobbying for really radical unilateral changes to the law, suing regular everyday people for "piracy" to the point of bankruptcy, hassling bars/restaurants (usually mom and pop operations, barely making it as it is) into paying commercial licensing fees for music, etc.
A band now can cut their own album and sell it on iTunes, Amazon or a host of other music sites and retain a lot more of the proceeds. Back in the day even large, famous acts were getting stiffed by the record companies! Thanks in part to the way that record companies have pushed musicians up against the wall now for many years the market is now to a point where the artists don't even make money on the albums themselves. Instead they make the money at concerts, both on tickets and on merchandise. An artist now almost has to *give away* the music (many seem to - look on Youtube for all of the "full album" videos) as the loss leader in hopes of getting people to their concert. Artists can post samples on Youtube (at no cost) to drive sales and exposure. The record company middleman has less and less importance in a marketplace like this.
I'm glad to see that more and more musicians are standing up for themselves and taking advantage of the offerings that don't involve RIAA-related entities. If the entity doesn't add value they shouldn't have a role in the marketplace anymore.
Now you know how U.S. Americans feel when everyone lumps us all together, as if we're all cool with the corporatist pricks who get elected these days.
The cow says "Moo." The dog says "Woof." The Timothy says "Thanks, valued customer. We appreciate your input."
If Canada feels it's important to block public access to the internet because a few commit illegal acts, then why wouldn't they block public access to the highways for the same reason?
If we start/continue to block/disallow everything that can be used for unlawful purposes, pretty soon, everything will be blocked/disallowed.
I assume that if all these governments from around the globe have successfully 'blocked' all these nasty web sites offering pirated content, then it stands to reason that the recording industries tax on blank media no longer would be appropriate or relevant, so we can have cheaper blank media again?
It's slightly easier to bag on you because of the differences in our electoral systems. ~65-70% of the people that voted didn't vote for the current Conservative government. The Parliamentary system coupled with first-past-the-post voting means that highly contested ridings can go to someone that only got 30-40% of the vote.
But being lumped together isn't any fun, I'll grant you. Good luck.
If tools have improved such that hobby music can equal the songwriting and production quality of career music, then perhaps the public would benefit if music were to become a hobby.
All the music I listen to is 100% free to download.
How do people usually find out about these recording artists who offer their own professional-quality music for download at no charge? Virtually none of the music played on FCC-licensed U.S. FM stations is free as in speech or free as in beer, and I doubt CRTC-licensed Canadian FM stations differ.
Well... there you have it. People who are still limiting themselves to FM transmissions are missing out.
For the rest of us, new music is promoted through social media and "if you listen to this, you might also like...." on streaming radio. Just using Google does amazingly well too.
And then, of course, there's the fact that CBC Radio 2 picks up a lot of independent music, and provides links to the band's websites on their site, along with a historical playlist so you can find the songs/artists you listened to earlier in the day on FM, if you're into that.
You don't NEED a record company anymore, you can be your own!
If a recording artist is his own label, how would he go about getting his music onto FM or satellite radio or onto the playlists of popular Internet streaming music providers, such as Pandora, Spotify, and foreign counterparts? And how should a songwriter make sure that he didn't accidentally copy parts of a popular song when writing his own? (See, for example, the "My Sweet Lord" lawsuit.) RIAA-affiliated labels add value through promotion and through their affiliated music publishers.
Sorry, but your argument is wrong.
Most "Owned" Bands (i.e. on a Major Record Label) do NOT make their money on the CD Sales. They make a pittance. They make most (if not ALL their money) on tours.The reason we have things like JB, is they sell their souls to the music industry and allow them to be totally manipulated and peroform cookie cutter music that you can't tell from the other 20 performers of that style of music.
As for the "ugly" comment, You're telling me that a performer like Ted Nutgent.. I mean Nugent can't sell tickets ? Sadly he does.
If you want REAL musicians, Look up an Indie artist. There are a bunch. And some are even geeky. You have Marian Call, The Double Clicks, Molly Lewis, Jonathan Coulton, Paul and Storm, and others.... Support them and support their music.
UPS Sucks
At least have the decency to mention the important thing the Harper government got RIGHT: Limiting the scope of how hard the CRIA can screw the individual downloader. We see HUGE penalties in the USA for poor people getting nailed for "copyright infringement" but at least in Canada Harper has limited that to $5,000CDN for "all infringements involved" so no-one has to lose their house over downloading a few songs to listen to at home. That is a HUGE benefit and protection to the average person here in Canada who just wants to listen to music. It also forces the music labels to leave the music lovers alone and go after the commercial infringers, since they can't exploit individuals as a "cash cow".
Also note that these copyright changes are all REQUIRED under international agreements that Canada is party to, so you can blame Harper all you want but no-one else could have done any different. IMHO, I think he got the best deal possible out of a crappy situation!
See: http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca...
(b) in a sum of not less than $100 and not more than $5,000 that the court considers just, with respect to all infringements involved in the proceedings for all works or other subject-matter, if the infringements are for non-commercial purposes.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com...
Sometimes the "writing on the wall" is blood spatter...
Why do these people think they deserve to be treated so specially? They're not the only ones who have their work "thieved" (hell, they're considered thieves by a lot of the people they're supposed to represent), and every concession we've made for them in Canada hasn't been enough. At some point you have to accept reality, and stop trying to control it.
Look at it the other way... they keep asking for another pony, and more often than not, they get it. Why would they want to stop asking?
I've not purchased anything from a major recording label in years mostly because I can hear it on the radio or stream services {not really free you have to put up with advertising but no cash out of my pocket}
I have purchased music from indie artists or local band that I wanted to support. I also listen to them much more frequently than radio or major label bands. Most of the major label acts don't appeal to me.
Even if piracy stopped today I don't think their sales would go up, those people pirating music are probably not going to be their customer anyway. They'll just flip through the channels on the radio or ad supported streaming services until they find something that fills the time.
I am part of the Canadian music HOBBY and I'm not in favour either. The fact that you said "favor" makes me doubt whether you're really Canadian, but I know many musicians, both inside and outside the industry, who aren't in favour. In general, the CRIA is understood to represent RIAA interests and only represent the Canadian recording industry as a hobby themselves.
...Canadians are calling for the government to ban music industry associations...
Coder's Stone: The programming language quick ref for iPad
If a recording artist is his own label, how would he go about getting his music onto FM or satellite radio or onto the playlists of popular Internet streaming music providers, such as Pandora, Spotify, and foreign counterparts?
Information for artists submitting to Pandora
Information for artists submitting to Spotify
Getting your music on iTunes
In short, that depends on the service they want their music on. Different services have different procedures.
And how should a songwriter make sure that he didn't accidentally copy parts of a popular song when writing his own?
As you so helpfully pointed out, they don't/can't always. The human mind is prone to subconscious influence; there's no way around that.
RIAA-affiliated labels add value through promotion and through their affiliated music publishers.
True, although it's debatable whether the value that they add is greater than the cost that they impose. The artists that they promote are like lottery winners: the lucky few that you can point to as indicators that the system is beneficial to artists and the public as a whole. In a nutshell, they're a great example of a selection bias.
It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
All the music I listen to is 100% free to download.
You are a thief unless the artist or band released their music for free downloading / streaming.
No he would be a infringing copyright which is not theft it is under a entirely different section of the law.
---Saying gnome 3 is better than windows 8 not so much a compliment as it is damning with light praise.
Err...the rock bands of yesteryear would tend to argue with you. They did albums sure, but their concerts were legendary:
Rolling Stones
The Who
Pink Floyd
Led Zeppelin
And none of those guys were all that much to look at really....
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........