VintagePunk
Blue Crack Distributor
I just watched a really interesting program on City TV's CP-24 news channel, Legal Briefs, where this week's topic was the bill to set rules and punishments regarding the illegal downloading of music, television and movies in Canada. The guests were an entertainment lawyer who argued against downloading, and the drummer for the band Wide Mouth Mason, Safwan Javed, who argued in favour of it. Safwan was very eloquent in making his arguments, and essentially said that it's not in the best interests of any musician to alienate fans by prosecuting people who download, and that they'd much rather people download their music for free, and then come and spend their money at live shows, where they make the vast majority of their income, anyway. One of the lawyer's arguments was that it's not just musicians who are losing money by allowing downloading, but also songwriters (for songs not written by the performer) and studio musicians who might not tour with the performer or band. Safwan countered that the system is not perfect, and that rather than ban free downloading and prosecute fans, that the industry needs to rethink their business model to provide for people who may potentially be losing income, rather than regress by prosecuting.
He talked about a group that was recently formed by Canadian musicians who are in agreement with this philosophy. I looked it up, and it can be found here:
http://www.musiccreators.ca/
A lengthy list of Canadian musicians who have joined this group can be found on the website. I was surprised to see some fairly big name artists, including Barenaked Ladies, Feist, Sloan, Broken Social Scene, Stars, Avril Lavigne, Matthew Good, Metric, Raine Maida of Our Lady Peace, Randy Bachman, Sam Roberts, Sarah McLachlan, The New Pornographers, Sum 41, and on and on. Canadian Music Creators Coalition � artists
This is a snippet taken from their policy paper that can be found on their website:
I agree with their stance. Personally, I've discovered a lot of new bands (and rediscovered others) through downloading, and I've gone on to spend a shitload of money attending their shows and buying their merchandise, money I would have been very unlikely to spend had I not downloaded in the first place. And, they get more of the profits when I spend money, so yay! This makes me want to spend even more money to support them.
Thoughts?
He talked about a group that was recently formed by Canadian musicians who are in agreement with this philosophy. I looked it up, and it can be found here:
http://www.musiccreators.ca/
A lengthy list of Canadian musicians who have joined this group can be found on the website. I was surprised to see some fairly big name artists, including Barenaked Ladies, Feist, Sloan, Broken Social Scene, Stars, Avril Lavigne, Matthew Good, Metric, Raine Maida of Our Lady Peace, Randy Bachman, Sam Roberts, Sarah McLachlan, The New Pornographers, Sum 41, and on and on. Canadian Music Creators Coalition � artists
This is a snippet taken from their policy paper that can be found on their website:
Suing Our Fans is Destructive and Hypocritical
We do not want to sue our fans. We oppose any copyright reforms that would make it easier for record companies to do this. The labels have been suing our fans against our will, and laws enabling these suits cannot be justified in our names.
We believe that the current litigious atmosphere in the music industry is destructive. Lawsuits unfairly alienate our fans. Artists cannot expect to say, “see you in court,” and then, “see you at Massey Hall next fall.” A few other countries have created a legal climate where suing fans is the norm. Lawsuits against music fans benefit no one. If there is a threat to Canadian artists, it is not p2p downloading or sharing music but lawsuits brought by the recording industry against our fans.
Fans who share music are not thieves or pirates. Sharing music has been happening for decades. It is hypocritical for labels to sue fans for something that everyone in the music industry has done him or herself. New technologies may have changed the way that fans share music, but they have not changed the fact that sharing helps artists’ careers.
In terms of specific copyright reforms, this principle suggests that the government should repeal provisions of the Copyright Act that allow labels to punish fans with damages of $500 to $20,000 per song. Statutory damages of this magnitude are unduly harsh where music fans share songs for non-commercial purposes. The threat of such enormous liability does not deter file sharing, but unfairly forces vulnerable people to cave in to the labels’ bullying tactics without a hearing of their case. To sue for non-commercial music sharing, record companies should have to prove their damages or lost profits, as is usually required by law.
I agree with their stance. Personally, I've discovered a lot of new bands (and rediscovered others) through downloading, and I've gone on to spend a shitload of money attending their shows and buying their merchandise, money I would have been very unlikely to spend had I not downloaded in the first place. And, they get more of the profits when I spend money, so yay! This makes me want to spend even more money to support them.
Thoughts?