More About Stealing the Music

I just read an excellent article rebutting the idea that Statutory Damages in copyright infringement suits are too high and that the Copyright Act is need of reform, modifying or even doing away with Statutory Damages. That got me on my favorite soap box/rant. Below is my comment which was posted following the article, which is entitled "The 'Lessigation' of Copyright Scholarship: A review of Statutory Damages in Copyright Law: A Remedy in Need of Reform (Part I)". The article can be found here.

"Thank you for a well thought out article. Thank you for supporting the creators and artists in the United States -- the future of artistry and artistic culture in our country, be it music, film, literature, or any other art form. This is no small matter. Blaming the RIAA for everything only further demonstrates the ignorance of the "I want what you have for free so give it to me!" mentality of the art should be free contingency. I'm on the firing line -- and I see daily where the real harm is being done -- to the creators. The RIAA is an industry association engaged in the protection of its member companies. Trickle down. The record companies derive their intellectual property rights from the creators -- the artists and songwriters. They are the real victims. The record company execs will find work in another industry. And hopefully so will the rank and file employees at those companies since they are the ones losing their jobs. But the creators are losing the industry that once supported their efforts to reach a mass audience -- that paid them to create while awaiting enough commercial success to support themselves and their families. The record companies no longer have the financial ability to support new artists the way they once did. And illegal file sharing is certainly a major reason for this. I do not blame all woes of the recording industry on illegal file sharing. There are a number of other factors, including the popularity of singles over CDs, even if purchased. Added to that the theft of "ordinary citizens" has been massive. (I would like to think that "ordinary citizens" do not choose to steal rather than legally purchase--but sadly I guess I am wrong about that.) I have negotiated the deals on behalf of the creators for nearly 30 years now. In my practice at least the RIAA members and the music publishers have always paid for the intellectual property--not stolen it. If they did not then lawsuits ensued just as they would in any other business in the U.S. No one as of yet has persuaded me that it should now be ok for the ultimate consumer to steal the work product and creations of all these artists and the industry that supports them."

Comments

[Sheree]

Thanks Mr Weaver for sticking up for the songwriters. I don't believe I would even consider putting up my tunes here on myspace. It's a scary consideration, because it is not just the domestic theft, but international theft to contend with. The situation is outrageous anymore, even my own kids seem to think it's alright to just DL artists music, and then we get infected with the virus' that these scum file-sharing jerks put out there with the freeware. I say beware - keep fighting for us!