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Date:      Tue, 13 Mar 2001 11:25:00 -0000
From:      anon@somewhere.net
To:        brett@lariat.org, crh@outpost.co.nz
Cc:        freebsd-chat@freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: Stallman stalls again
Message-ID:  <200103131127.FAA12038@mail-backup.rcsntx.swbell.net>
In-Reply-To: <4.3.2.7.2.20010312224412.04461ca0@localhost> 

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Brett Glass wrote:
> At 06:10 AM 3/12/2001, anon@somewhere.net wrote: 
> 
> >And if they do fold, so what?
> >100 years ago the music industry did not exist.  There is no legal, moral,
> >or economic mandate that it must still exist 100 years (or even 10 years)
> >from now.  Industries come and go all the time.  They are born when a new
> >need arises, and they die when that need fades away.  
> 
> "The music industry" is a very broad term. It includes musicians, composers,
> publishers, retailers, agents, lawyers, producers, engineers, equipment
> manufacturers, etc., many of whom make very valuable contributions.

Pardon my inaccuracy.  I was referring to the large labels, which Craig so
eloquently described as "a collection of amoral scumbags".  I am guilty of
the same overbroad wording as was used in naming their paid mouthpiece, the
Recording Industry Association of America.  Mea culpa.

In another message, Brett Glass also wrote:
> At 01:05 AM 3/12/2001, Mike Meyer wrote:
> >"Impacting sales" is a *long* way from "causing a major economic
> >dislocation". Get back to me record companies start folding because of
> >it.
> 
> We don't have ubiquitous broadband yet. It could well happen when we
> do. 
> 
> In the meantime, however, what will happen is that the record won't
> earn out its advance. The publisher will grab all the money, and
> the artist will be forever in debt to the publisher. Not a good
> thing.

That's just it.  This is already happening, and has been happening for 
decades.  The labels have been screwing artists in exactly this way long
before things like Napster came around.  What you describe is a textbook
example of how the copyright system is abused, to the detriment of the
actual creative folks.


In yet a third message, Craig Harding wrote:
> Go read Courtney Love's Salon article again and then tell me we don't
> need a revolution.

Well worth reading.  For those who haven't read it, look here:
http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2000/06/14/love/

I never really liked her until I read her speech.  She definitely
deserves some respect for doing that.  What she describes is exactly how
the system works, except that she exaggerates the royalties paid to the 
artists.  20%?  No way.  It's more like 7.5 cents per track, which means
the artist gets 90 cents for each copy of a typical 12 track album sold, 
not the $2 figure she uses.


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