Friday, December 11, 2009
Is everyone a criminal?
After watching the documentary Good Copy Bad Copy and discussing as a class we have alot of questions. The amount of money lost is staggering. Based on the Record Industry Association of America $12.5 billion dollars has been lost due to piracy. Should the music industry continue to crack down on illegal downloading? How should copyright laws be amended to account for new technologies? Can you think of alternatives?
Posts
87 comments:
I think that the amount of money that is lost, and the amount of jobs lost are staggering. It is wrong that these hard working people(the artists and workers) are losing there jobs and money because peole decide to steal from these companies and buy the music for themselves. It is wrong. But i do belive that copy right laws are dumb in that people cant play songs at parties, or use your friends songs. I think that the laws are to strict in some areas, but piracy and stealing lots of music is just wrong.
I believe that the idea behind this law is just; however the law itself needs to be fixed. For example in most situations an artist makes the most money off of their song the first 5 years it is released to the market. Maybe after the artist’s income from the song reached a minimum amount they could lower the usual security around it. For example that instance where someone was sued for taking three notes is outrageous. It was not like the song was famous or anything. I doubt only a handful of people even listened to that song.
I think they should make the law easier to understand, by doing that the music industrys will have to deal with this subject less often. Most of the people that are doing the downloading do not even know it is illegal and will most likely stop when they find it is, some will not though. If you buy the sone legally you should be able to play it at a big party. I mean it's not like everyone at the party will instantly have the song on their ipod for free.
I think that the people losing jobs and money can blame the people downloading music for free illegally and also the copyright laws themselves. If the copyright laws were not as strict, illegal downloading would be far less and record companies would be making more money. In response to this, I think that illegal downloads should stay illegal but the record companies and whoever edits, enforces or makes copyright laws should find a way to change them so that they fit people's needs. If they do that, I think that there will be much less illegal downloading and more money and jobs for the people making and publishing the music. I think to fit the needs of the people, the companies should do a yearly, monthly or weekly membership fee for unlimited downloads. The music would be high quality too, beating the sound quality of illegal sites. I think that this solution will bring money back to the music industry and jobs to the people in the record companies.
What a great conversation! You all agree that illegal downloading is wrong and results in jobs and money lost. Did you feel that way before our class? JohnB made a good point when he said that the people doing the downloading are unaware of the laws. So is more education needed?
You also believe the copyright laws need to be updated and made easier to understand.
I want you to know that if you are having a party at your house you can play whatever music you want. If you were getting paid (like a DJ) you would need some sort of license to be able to play music.
It is really a shame that so much money is being lost. The artists work very hard making their music and different arts, and then we practically steal large portions of it. I do think that piracy needs to be stopped and needs to be focused more in the hunt for illegal downloading materials. Although these artists do work very hard to produce great material, some rules prohibited by copyright need to be adjusted. I do not believe that because their is a large group of people that they should not be permitted to view or listen one person's art. Copyright is good for the artists but some rules need to be reevaluated.
Connor G., like I said in my own comment, i do agree with you in that some rules need to be adjusted. Some of the rules are just outrageous and are to some extent unnecessary. Some of the copyright laws go out on a stretch to prohibit certain things that I don't think should be prohibited.
I think that with the current economy, the amount of money lost in the movie and music business is ridiculous. I believe that you should not download things illegal, but i think the laws should be made more understandable. If these laws are written more clearly, more people would understand them and follow them.
Mrs. Nelson,
I believe that if you purchase the songs that you are going to play, it does not matter how many people hear it. To answer your question, I think that a DJ or someone having a party should not have to pay for a license to play it.
sorry for the deletes, I kept messing up
I feel that they should crack down on the illegal downloads of music and other copyrighted material. If you pay for the song i think you should be able to play it where and whenever you want. To many people have lost money and jobs to the illegal downloading of music and movies etc. They should make the law much easier to understand, not many people know that using limewire and other sites like limewire is illegal. If they make the law easier to understand they might not have to deal with the illegal downloading and the piracy. In other words By making the law easier to understand people would understand the consequences of using the illegal tools they have out there on the internet.I also think that maybe they should delete limewire and as many of these illegal tools that there are so that there might not be so many issues with this topic. Its also just so easy for people to get the thing they are looking for, for free rather than paying the amount of money to get it.
I agree with what Connor R said. If the music industry made a site and gave weekly mothly or even yearly memberships for unlimited downloads i think many people would start to pay for the music they are stealing. With this site having the membership the music industry would be getting a better income due to the memberships.
The Music industry should keep cracking down on illegal downloading but this wont stop people from continue to do this. People won't stop downloading music off the internet because it's easier to do so illegally and cheaper then to purchasing off the internet,such as Itunes, so why stop. The copyright laws should be amended because there are way to many people taking other artists work and using for themselves, now a days it is easy to do. The Music industry is not going to be able to stop pirating music but maybe they could try lowering the prices of songs on Itunes, a dollar and thirty cents is ridiculous.
Mrs Nelson i feel that If he pays for his music and we pay for our music why would the dj need a license but we do not? He is paying for the music and so are we. Is there a difference between me playing the song at a party and the dj playing the song at a party. I also feel that we do need work on these copyright laws. They should be explained more so that they would be easily understood by not only adults but children too.
I agree with David P, they should make the laws more clear because the next generation to download illegally is going to think that piracy is alright as long as you don't get caught. Maybe the Music industries should try to shut down the websites instead of making people who were unaware of the circumstances do the punishment instead of the website or programs creators.
I partially agree with you Mrs. Nelson, The DJ's should not have to have a license to play music at a house because the DJ has to buy the equipment to play the music and if its the right kind of DJ then he would have Cd's, if no then this comes back to the copyright law and the Music industries cracking down on the illegal down loaders. Although the DJ is getting paid playing music, the individual player can play whatever he wants because he isn't getting payed. For the DJ the income of the money is his job he needs that. Since he is getting paid then there is indeed an need for a license. All in all DJ's should be allowed to play music freely.
I agree with what David P said. I feel that the people who cause all that money and jobs to be lost should be arrested. I also feel that if the laws were made more clearly, there would be less illegal downloading.
I believe that it is wrong to rob the people who make music.Not everyone pirates music but because of my topic I also learned how many people do. But I also think that it is wrong to charge 1.29 for one song on itunes.
I don't agree that they should be arrestted because that would never be inforced. If they are punished it should be a small fine that gets bigger as the person keeps downloading.
Stephen b.makes a good comment that I would agree with. I think that they should make the laws more clear but also should adjust them to make it more relaxed. Some seem way too strict and practically allows no leeway.
I disagree with Michael because not everyone can afford to pay money for each song.
I agree with what John B said about being arrested for violating copyright laws. As he said a small fine would be more suitable for the crime, because it is more of a minor offense than, say, a murder or something.
I agree with John B. because a small fine will pay its due, then an absurd amount of money. People are just trying to make music, so why should people take that away. Unless they violate these rules. I just believe the love of music has been taken away with all these rules.
I definetely agree that illegal downloading is affecting job loss. It takes money from the music and other branches of the entertainment industry. Because of the money loss they can't afford some employees and must fire them.
My opinion on this topic relates to Connor Rooney's. I do believe that piracy and illegal downloading is wrong, but some of the copyright laws have gotten way to out of hand now. If a person buys a song on iTunes, they should be able to do whatever they want with it except for selling it because it is their property for purchasing it.
John B. does make a good point. I think that the fines are way too ridiculous. I remember Robert saying that it costs more money to get arrested for copyright laws than it is for second degree murder. In my opinion, I think its way too much.
I believe the amount of money that is lost is unbelievable. The music industry clearly has the right to try and stop illegal downloading but in reality, it is almost impossible to stop all illegal downloading. It seems virtually impossible. The amount of money the companies would spend to try and stop all illegal downloading would just end up costing the companies even more money than before. The whole process of tracking down all the people who are at the forefront of this illegal downloading would take a long time. In reality, it is a waste of time, money, and resources. They are losing money, but they will lose more if they try to stop this process.
I also agree with Stephen B. because now in 2010, if you pay the money to listen to music on iTunes you should be able to allow other people listen. As long as you do not let them download the song and take it for themselves
Mrs. Nelson, I agree with you partially. You should be able to use the music in any way that you want, as long as you purchased it. When you start making money for sharing your previously purchased music, I believ you have crossed the line. Sharing the music for personal use and sharing it for the purpose of gaining your own wealth are completely different things.
I also agree with John B. The fine for illegally downloading is ridiculous. If the government cracked down on everyone who downloaded something illegally, we would go into a depression.
I also agree with John B. The fine for illegally downloading is ridiculous. If the government cracked down on everyone who downloaded something illegally, we would go into a depression.
My opinion is its not fair to the people who are actually making this music and are losing jobs because other people are using their music. Everyone should not suffer because one person is not able to follow the rules.
I agree with Conor G. People are doing something illegal they need to pay the consequences of their actions. It's really sad to see the loss of for music. If more people would follow the rules we wouldn't have this issue
I agree with Conor G. People are doing something illegal they need to pay the consequences of their actions. It's really sad to see the loss love for music. If more people would follow the rules we wouldn't have this issue.
I completely agree with what ConnorG is saying. Piracy is wrong, but it is even worse is todays economy when jobs are so hard to come by
Andrewk13 makes an excellent point. I really like the idea about the 5 year security policy. It sounds like it would work and has it has its merits. An artist only relly makes money off of a song the first ciuple of years it is published. Maybe the idea can be modified so that if the song has an increase in popularity security goes up.
No matter how much we all do it including myself, i think free downloading should come to an end. Many artist make wonderful music and come out with CDs and the most times stay in stores, on the shelves because everyone download for free over the internet resulting in loss of money. Its seem as of now, not many things are being done considering the fact that free music downloading is still very popular. I believe there should be a consequence for that many people are losing out on what they worked so hard for to create.
I disagree with the five year policy, because any song that it good will make money longer. Like ac/dc most of there songs that they made in the 80's are still big hits. If people want their music for free websites should get their money for advertising, so that the musician gets paid and we get no viruses.
I feel that the music industry should crack down on this situation because they are losing a ton of money. However I feel the industries should make prices of music cheaper because as people buy more music its starts to add on alot to how much money your spending. So that why I think people illegally download because they can get music for free instead of paying for cd's or $1.29 per song on itunes. But they should crack down on it but just find other ideas to get people away from illegal downloads
mattm13 makes a valid point but couldnt we say that the Artist and people working with them could make money off their concerts. In a way I feel free downloading is not so bad. Scenerio: You hear a song from Nickelback that ypu really liked on the radio. You go home on limewire, type in Nickelback and you download multiple songs that you also ebjoy. When he perform in your town, you would most likely want to go. But scenerio #2 is, you have to pay for the songs, therefor you never really hear the the artist and never go to their concert. I guess this is why the issue is so intense
I don't feel that the music industry should crack down on illegal downloading, because companies won't try to find an alternative so that consumers can receive some free songs. There are billions of songs in our diverse world, and people don't have time to buy them all. Also things like I-tunes are slow and boring. Companies should create a better website with categories and song blocks so that consumers can search a bunch of songs and then pay. File sharing is goin to keep going and there is nothing that the music industry nor the goverment can do about it.
Mrs. Nelson, you bring up a good point, but do you have a positive view about free music downloading?
I also agree with what Sean P. said. The illegal downloading needs to come to an end. Way to many people are losing money and jobs. Is it fair for them to not get a job because we have to steal a few songs. I strongly agree with what Sean P.
i believe that the illegal downloading should try to be stopped. even thought it is going to be extremely hard to accomplish. we all have listened to our have at least one illegal song or movie, ill admit a good percent of my ipod is illegal songs. just because it is wrong does not stop me from doing it, but i do believe it should be stopped or at least made a little harder to do then just downloading Limewire or Bittorrent.
Many of you have commented that you don't think a DJ should have to pay for a license to play the music if he's purchased it already. This is actually pretty reasonable. He makes money by playing music that was created by others. He does not have the right to make money off of another person's work. When you purchase a song or CD you are purchasing it for personal entertainment only. You are not purchasing the right to use it in a public way. As Mrs. Nelson said, playing it at a party for some friends is fine, but a DJ is a different story because he his charging money for people to hear the music.
I disagree with Tah, I feel that illegal downloading is very harmful to the artist and their work. It is not fair to them because they put in so much work and there you are just ripping that away from them by illegal downloading. This is their career and a career is needed to make a salary, if illegal downloading continues so much these careers will be affected greatly. Therefore where is the reward for the hardworking artists? It just isn't fair.
I do not believe that they should crack down on illegal piracy. Say an iPod holds up to 2,000 song, and you plan on filling it up. With an itunes song costing $1.29, how would you expect someone to pay over $2,000 on an iPod that may have costed $150 to buy.
After researching the entertainment section due to Web 2.0 in class, I have formulated an opinion on the illegal downloading piracy. It is clearly wrong and should be put to an end based on the number of companies affected by this problem. Obviously, this problem will be a struggle end and with the iTunes’ prices raising to $1.29 more people will be more persuaded to use this illegal software to obtain music. This is a problem not in just the United States, but all over the world. I do not know how to stop this; but by stressing the consequences of being caught illegal downloading, maybe the number may decrease. I know that everyone might not stop because of the effects; however, if one person gets caught, I am positive people he/she knows will eventually stop the piracy.
I think that the governemnt should crack down on this because people are losing their jobs because of illegal downloading. I mean it is illegal. The money lost needs to be made up somehow, and new rukes need to be made to fix this problem. If rules are made and set straight the problem would not be at hand.
Really there aren't a lot or anything that can be done because piracy is so huge and because it spans the globe there is just no way of getting every single person who has committed piracy. And there are even people who don't even know that they are committing a felony.
I think that it is really a shame for all of the hardworking artists and workers that are losing money due to piracy. I also think that piracy, especially online, is extremely hard to monitor and prevent. While copyright laws are helpful and limit piracy somewhat, I believe that they can be a little ridiculous. It is almost impossible to lawfully abide by some recent copyright restrictions. I feel that in order for copyright laws to work effectively, they have to have the right balance of cracking down on piracy and being less restricting to the pulic.
I think it is unfair that people are taking away the money companies and artists should be geting and we should create new laws to stop people from doing that.
I think it is unfair that people are taking away the money companies and artists should be geting and we should create new laws to stop people from doing that.
I believe that the music industry should not waste too much effort and money on preventing piracy and illegal downloading. I believe that piracy is impossible to stop completely and it is going to happen, so there is no point wasting time and effort to stop it. If one piracy site is stopped, another one will pop up somewhere else. I feel that copyright laws don't have to change. Artists today make enough money even with the decline of legal music purchasing that there shouldn't be a concern about piracy, especially in the music industry. The only change that should be made is giving dj's and holders of legally purchased music the right to play and share there music with as many people as they want. He or she paid money to purchase it, so he or she should be granted the right to do whatever he wants with it.
Connor R. made a great point. If the music industry created software that over ruled other systems and required some sort of fee, the business can easily regain the lost money from the piracy that is occurring around the world. I would like to see what this program would look like if it came out in the near future, because I know I would be interested in joining. Alternatives will be hard to come by; however, this approach may be promising.
Even though I do beleive that illegal downloading is wrong I also think that people are almost forced to, with the constant extensions of how long copyright laws last and the price of legally downloaded songs. I also beleive that there should be some limits; on how long the copyrights last and how many downloads you can have before it's considered illegal, or there could be limits set on how long the downloads remain viable. I also think that if you aren't making money from the downloaded information than the copyright laws should be less consequential than if you did profit from the information.
I also agree with both James and Tah. I understand why james believes that artists need to earn a salary, but most popular artists are already earning millions of dollars a year, or even more.Also, its not like people are now getting into their concerts for free. My overall point is that it may seem strange but selling songs is not the only way artists make money. Almost all famout artists star in commersials or some may have clothing lines, or sell poster etc...
Yes, according to copyright laws, everyone seems to be a criminal. Although some may find them stupid and choose not to follow certain copyright laws, an example like playing music at a party, most people do not even know about these laws. Before this discussion, I had no prior idea that it was against the law to play music at a party or let a friend download some of your songs off of your music library. If people like us could be educated more about this problem, I think the issue could be reduced substantially.
I think there is no way the music indistry will be able to totally stop it but I think they should definately try.
I agree with what Andrew said but there is already a law and its called copyright. Even with that in place, piracy, stealing and illegal downloading is still happening everyday. The only way for it to be stopped is for companies like LimeWire to shut down it's free version and stick with the version that you pay for.
I completely disagree with colel. The music company shouldn't try to stop it, they should use it.They should use a large amount of money they have left and buy limewire, piratebay, etc. That way they can either regulate a price for each songs or do a monthly charge. This would be helpful to both party, limewire could make some profit and maybe the music industry could elimate the virus assosicated with limewire. And the music industry wouldn't lose the large money they lose every year and would even gain money rom a result of it.
Tom I see what you are saying. The truth is said in the movie Incredible, "If everyone is a criminal no one is a criminal"
Do not get me wrong, I do agree with Keilan. I believe the music industries should try to stop it, but they most likely will not.
Mrs. Nelson. Before this class I had a different opinion on the music industry and illegal downloading. I did not realize how much of an effect in can have on families. I know if my dad worked in the music industry during this economy and our family was struggling, I would be upset. Even though the loss of music has not affected me personally, I can put myself in someone else's shoes that are in that difficult situation. I am changing my actions when it comes to music buying after this class.
I agree with connor goggin on his comment on that it is wrong for people to be losing their jobs because of other peoples illegal actions.
Well it might be possible. For instance that instance where they cracked down on colleges was interesting. I think it is possible to expand on that so the colleges themselves could enforce the law. They could block the web sites and expel those they catch downloading the music.
So many of you are complaining that $1.29 is too much to pay for one song. I'd like you to think about all of the things you spend your money on. How much is a soda at Chief's place? A candy bar? Ice cream? You spend money on these things that are only enjoyed for a few minutes. You purchase a song on iTunes for just $1.29 and you can enjoy that song thousands of times. If you listen to that song 129 times it only costs a penny each time you listen to it. As I said in class, would you walk into a store and steal a bottle of soda or something simply because you thought it was too expensive? Essentially, that is what you are doing when you illegally download music. Why is it that you think it should be free? Do you think musicians should just work for nothing?
I agree with james burns in the fact that piracy should be stopped immediately and it needs to be focused on more to be stopped
I disagree with what bill dykan said. The artists who create these songs need to be paid for their original product, and the website needs to be paid for obtaining permission to sell the song. If these are both eliminated, then the company would not have any incentive to keep selling songs, and the artist might also not have any incentive to create songs, as they will not be paid as much for them.
The money lost is hurting our economy because of it being stolen. The music buisness should focus more on the real problems when it is completely stolen instead of cracking down on the sharing between friends. The law is right but there is flaw on the terms of it being that the terms are harsh and uneccessary on the pirating people would not even realize.
To answer Ms. Conmy's question, it is not that people think it should be free, in fact, most of the people that use limewire and other illegal websites like that think it shouldn't be free. It's just that we have the opportunity to not spend money on these items, and we can get away with it having no doubt. Now you have to factor in these tough economic times we live in, so the average american would most likely use illegal downloading websites.
I agree with Matt S, it is far too easy to accidentally pirate music and it seems that music companies are focusing on this much more than blatant piracy. I think that they should definitely find a way to focus more on this than trivial, and often unknowing piracy.
I believe that the music industry should crack down on illegal downloading. Although many have done it, it is still against the law. But I do believe that the laws surrounding the downloading of music should be modified according to the new technologies we have today. The laws should be altered in terms of the strictness but they should still prohibit the stealing of music such as using Lime Wire. Laws such as being incapable of playing your friends' songs at your party should be abolished.
I disagree with what andrew k stated because even if a bad deed is small and unaffecting it is still wrong. Although an artist might be making a minimum amount of money on an unpopular song, they still have earned that money. All bands started somewhere. All the popular bands and artists today were at some point only making a minimum amount of money on their songs and albums. If we steal this money from new and upcoming bands and artists, there will not be any money in the music industry. Many people who could have created great music will decide to pursue another career.
I agree with connor r in that the copyright laws surrounding illegal downloading should be altered according to our needs. I also like your idea about paying a membership fee to download an unlimit number of songs. Although I do believe people may download an accessible amount of songs, more songs than the membership fee pays for, which would cause a loss in revenue for the music industry and artists.
The idea about the membership fee sounds pretty good to me. I think it could work if it was strictly regulated and additional rules were added to make sure people don't abuse the membership. Some ideas are: Only a certain amount of songs could be downloaded per day OR restricting whose albums are open for use.
I completely agree with the membership fee. For iTunes, it is a hassle having to go out and buy the gift cards every time you use all the money up. If you have maybe a monthly membership fee going, people won't have to wait to get new songs.
The monthly membership fee sounds good but but for how many people is the membership valid. For instance under the current rules only one computer is legally allowed to have your songs on it. Would this be true for the membership fee or would you now be allowed to put songs on more computers as long as you are still pay membership?
I believe that when you buy a song, you have the right to do anything you want to do with it for example, put it on an ipod. The only thing that you shouldnt be allowed to do is give it away to friends for free or money. I think the music industry should crack down on illegal downloading because it is a major loss of revenue for the artists and everyone who worked to produce the recording.
I agree with john b because everyone at a party is not going to record the song. If anything playing a song at a party is a good thing because it is like an advertisement. It will make people want to go on to itunes or another website and buy the song.
I agree with David p. Copyright laws should be changed so that you are allowed to dj without a license. After all, you own the song and you should have the right play it.
On what Ms. Conmy said, yes, we do spend more on food than we would pay for a song but, we buy that with cash which is much more accessible than an iTunes gift card, which you have to pay 5, 10, 20 dollars on. Without an iTunes gift card purchasing music is completely unavailable.
Everyone is saying they should eliminate limewire or other file sharing software. I said before how the music company should buy these file sharing networks and regulate them in someway such as charge per download or a monthly or yearly charged plan. A plan that is spread out over a month or a year is good because its not on the mind as much. The music company would gain all the lost money from illegal downloads AND some extra from the new priced songs. Limewire would also profit from the new priced songs and a professional company taking care of the original limewire viruses and bugs.
While I do think that illegal downloading should be,it will be impossible to keep it from happening. Filesharing sites such as Piratebay.com and Lime Wire would be impossible to control because anyone can post anything on them. Until there is a definite way to stop piracy, it will continue, as it has since the advent of the internet and digital music.
In the movie Good Copy Bad Copy, the rap group N.W.A. was sued for using a greatly changed strain of notes from another song. The tune was so greatly changed that it was almost indstinguishable from the original. The band Coldplay also allegedly did the same thing. While I think that taking someone else's work and not givig them credit is wrong, I think that if they change it and make it original, they should be exempt. Like the person from "Girl Talk" who makes music by putting together different pieces of songs, these artists are adding their own flare to it.
Post a Comment