Mail Reflections
Want to share your thoughts? Email us at joelfightsback@gmail.com
Here’s one email we received this morning:
For all the reading I’ve done on the internet, I can’t help but notice there are a few very important points that are being missed to the average reader. I feel the most important of these is what I’ve dubbed my bottom line theory on the whole case. The bottom line is that people across North America are being sued for listening to sounds, however the RIAA or any organization would like to word it. The reason lawyers actually have work on a day to day basis is they are good at showing certain angles and getting a point across, the RIAA lawyers and the original copyright documentation have won cases under false pretenses. They CAN NOT copyright a sound or even multiple sounds, the jingles that company’s use (hum the mc’donalds bada bop ba ba so were on the same page) has been copyrighted for use in advertising. Under no circumstances would you see someone arrested and charged for humming that tune, the American public wouldn’t allow it.
The reason I believe the American public wouldn’t allow it is because a team of well-spoken lawyers hasn’t had the chance to stand in front of a judge with it, however in time someone will run into this problem and it saddens me to admit the copyright owners will probably win. That said if common sense and basic human rights don’t totally die out in the near future people may realize that yourself and others are being sued for listening to sounds. I’ve tried to disprove my theory a thousand times and I seem for some reason to keep coming back to the very basic and easy to understand concept that, as much as you can copyright sounds PRINTED on media such as a CD or DVD, you should never be able to copyright the sound itself. Since public internet sharing is only available on computers, does that mean we will soon see court cases against Internet Explorer and Safari for providing the tools to pirate?
If we entertain the idea that the supply and demand sides can be blamed for piracy, then here’s a list of people who are next on the RIAA guillotine:
- The downloader of the file and anyone who used it on that persons computer.
- The internet provider for allowing this person onto illegal file sharing networks.
- ALL of the manufacturers who have parts in said persons computer or the internet providers servers for providing a tool with which to steal.
- The software creators of the operating system, the browser, the P2P client, music player, hell even the software used to create the website in the first place.
- The electricity company for giving the “thief” the electricity required to operate the computer they use for these “stolen sounds”.
- As well anyone who didn’t cover their ears while the pirated music was playing is an accessory to theft.
Should we start charging shoplifters with piracy as well if they steal a music cd? Better yet, if someone rip’s a copyrighted CD to their computer that they purchased, and they by chance have an internet connection should they be charged with “intent to distribute a controlled… sound?” I can’t even begin to imagine the case the RIAA has been compiling against all of the old school thieves who used to record to a cassette from the radio.
In closing I guess I’d like to point out if you read all of the points I’ve made you’ll come back to the bottom line that charging anyone who has any part in the electronic transfer of sound, from internet provider to fifteen year old listener, is absolutely ridiculous. No one in the court room at the appeal will be able to prove you didn’t record those songs onto your computer from the radio, which last time I checked still isn’t an offense. I’m personally going to use that ancient method in today’s modern world and copy songs to my computer from internet radio stations, have fun charging me $22,500 a song for that RIAA.
….I wish you the best in fighting the RIAA’s lawyers misinterpreted b*llshit with the truth, hopefully the jury’s intelligent enough to realize the difference.
Warm Regards.
Adam Ockey
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Are you publishing your own articles? Or getting them from any other sources?
No … people are being sued for failing to reimburse those who enrich their lives for the hard work that those creators put into their art. Perhaps if you were capable of making something positive that actually helped other people you would understand this concept.
And your sick attempt to portray your thievery as a social movement is offensive beyond words.
Joel, your math is all wrong.
You shared 30 songs with, say, 1 million people. That’s 30 million downloads the record industry didn’t get paid for. Multiply that by 70 cents earned each time, and you get to $21 million.
So really, that should be your fine.
You’re getting off easy.
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Artists don’t lose anything from file sharing. The labels do. The labels thrive on album sales while the artists thrive on concerts, merchandise, royalties from MTV/radio. Modern copyright law requires reform, and the labels have failed to adapt.
One day, our great-grandchildren will look back to this age and think how f-c*ed up our copyright laws were.