Sony BMG lawer says copying music you own is stealing October 4, 2007
Sony BMG’s chief litigator, Jennifer Pariser, made some astonishing statements in the first RIAA file sharing law suit to make it to jury trial this Tuesday.
As reported here, when asked if making even one copy of music they have purchased was wrong Pariser said “When an individual makes a copy of a song for himself, I suppose we can say he stole a song.” Making “a copy” of a purchased song is just “a nice way of saying ’steals just one copy’,”
Another choice statement, “Selling music is the only way a record company makes money.” That’s not true. Wired’s Threat Level notes that Pariser said “I’ve seen thousands of hardworking employees lose their job because of piracy.” You would think they would publicise something like that more. Not just in a file sharing trial.
The trial is over now. The defendant lost with a judgement of $222,000 in damages for sharing music. Not murder, rape or treason, but sharing music. Seems like a wonderful way to reward a long time customer who has admittedly spent thousands of dollars on physical cds.
Big Media=Greed July 14, 2007
Today, July 13, 2007 in Great Britain, Prince slammed Sony BMG UK by making a deal to distribute his new CD “Planet Earth” with Sunday’s newspaper for free…. or just the cost of the paper.
This is a stunt to gain more listeners, but it really goes against what Big Media believes, that they own the music and movies the artists produce. Put into plain, simple terms: “Somebody’s Crazy!!” You decide who. Sure contracts are signed, deals are made, but who produced the music in the first place? Right. You know the answer.
As for Prince, I think he should just tell them to go sit with the demon The Doctor put down that black hole (yes, that Doctor). Prince can sell all the albums he wants online. Maybe he could start distribution via Magnatune or even the likes of PodSafeAudio or just under a Creative Commons license. Whichever comes to pass, I’m sure fans will still want and be willing to pay for his music and concerts. He’ll be the free and clear winner.
nomasteryoda
