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by Richi Jennings

The RIAA hates us all (and bigtit.hu)

news analysis

Dec 31, 20075 mins

It&rsquo;s the last IT Blogwatch of 2007: in which the Recording Industry Association of America is loved by precisely nobody (not even the artists it claims to represent). Not to mention a 50 ft. Hungarian bird…<br>Marc Fisher reports :

In an unusual case … the industry is taking its argument against music sharing one step further … [the RIAA] maintains that it is illegal for someone who has legally purchased a CD to transfer that music into his computer … Whether customers may copy their CDs onto their computers — an act at the very heart of the digital revolution — has a murky legal foundation, the RIAA argues. [more ]<br>Brett Thomas adds :<br>The RIAA argues that the copies from the CDs are not in fact legal copies – they are actually &ldquo;unauthorised reproductions,&rdquo; and that the personal use intent was irrelevant … this is the first time the organisation has attempted to actually stand behind that threat … Happy 2008, music fans. [more ]<br>Kathryn Vercillo is somewhat sympathetic :

This is just one example of how interested people are in the topic of how copyright laws apply to the changing technology in our modern world. The fact of the matter is that there’s a gap between the laws that are on the books and the reality of life today. The courts are having to play catch-up with copyright lawsuits such as this one. [more ]<br>But Matt Asay disagrees :<br>It&rsquo;s even worse than that, it turns out. The RIAA is actually trying to rewrite copyright law on the fly … This is so clearly not against the law that I&rsquo;m shocked the RIAA would bother with the attempt. Why, oh why, does the music industry insist on making things hard for itself? Apparently because it&rsquo;s run by complete bozos … No sane company sues its customers. Adoption is the bread of economic life. [more ]<br>Mark &lsquo;Rizzn&rsquo; Hopkins predicts the RIAA will die in 2008 :

In late November, EMI … announced that they’d be “substantially cutting their funding to industry’s trade bodies.” … A couple days [later] Warner Music Group announced that they made less than half the amount of money that Radiohead did for the year. The cause? A significant portion of the proceeds from artist creativity went directly to suing the customers by way of contributions to the RIAA … Prince this year was so disappointed by the fact that the RIAA had been unable to stop the piracy of his music by suing 12 year olds that he took to suing them himself. [more ]<br>Robert Scoble wonders if it all matters :<br>We should all thank the RIAA for doing such a great job and making our lives better! … No one should copy Britney Spears, not to mention listen to her. The RIAA is doing us a service by making sure we don’t listen to her … They’ll force the kids to buy non-DRM music from the get go and not buy any CDs. Good for the environment!. [more ]<br>Brian Solis is convinced that the RIAA wants you to stop buying CDs :

They want us to … start illegally downloading and sharing files with our peers. Why do I believe this? Because that’s what they’re driving us to do … Isn’t the ability to buy a CD and port your music onto your portable MP3 player the only reason you buy CDs nowadays? I can’t remember the last time I carried a portable CD player, nor do I carry my encyclopedia of CDs from car to car. [more ]<br>David A. Gatwood thinks different :<br>The status quo is nothing more than a de facto presumption of legality. At such point as a judge rules that it is legal, that becomes legal precedent. The last thing [the RIAA] want is for format shifting to be ruled fair use, since they have made their living over the decades precisely through reselling the same content in different formats over and over again … that would mean that they basically would have to make a living entirely by creating new music that is worth listening to, something which they haven&rsquo;t, IMHO, done successfully in a very long time. [more ]

We want your suggestions: what should be the IT Blogwatch new year resolution? Send your suggestions to nyr@richij.com.

Best answer gets a link to your weblog next year!

And finally…

Giant 50 ft. bird terrorizes Hungarian street

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