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The Anti-Piracy Equation Just Doesn’t Add Up |
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The RIAA was given a victory October 4th when a jury awarded them $222,000 in a landmark case against a file sharing single mother, Jammie Thomas. As many have noted, the case was something of a perfect storm for the record industry, involving a long-standing username, one computer that could be matched to the offending IP address, and a technically savvy defendant. Still, the news is being touted as a victory for the industry in their misguided fight against music “pirates.”
The problem is, this equation doesn’t add up. Here’s how it’s supposed to work:
- The music industry sues file sharers
- The music industry wins its lawsuits
- Something magical happens
- People stop file sharing
Going from step one to step two is hard enough. The Thomas suit is one of the first clear victories in court the RIAA has had, after suffering numerous setbacks and settling many cases before trial. But it’s going from step two to step four that really doesn’t make sense. According to most statistics I can find, file sharing has only increased since the RIAA started treating its customers like criminals in 2003. Some sites put that increase at over 300%. Clearly, the “message” the RIAA was trying to send to file sharers isn’t getting through. In fact, despite high profile events like the Thomas case, you are more likely to be struck by lightning than to get sued by the record industry.
So, if these lawsuits fail to deter copyright infringement, surely they must be doing some good, right? Let’s run the numbers.
The record industry collectively pays the RIAA (most likely) millions of dollars per year. (The actual numbers are impossible to find, but they do have over a half million dollars in their lobbying budget, so their full operating budget must be pretty high.) The RIAA in turn pays its high priced lawyers an exorbitant amount to sue children, dead grannies, and college students, all people without a lot of money, shallow pockets as they say. Indeed, while it was once thought that the RIAA broke even on most of its lawsuits, they are actually losing quite a bit of money on each one.
But here’s the kicker: Even if the RIAA settles or wins a court judgement, even if the lawsuit isn’t thrown out of court for the frivolous piece of litigation it is, the artists who actually make the music that is being stolen don’t receive one thin dime back from the RIAA. That’s right, the artists who slave for years to make records, pour out their souls into their CDs, and enrich our lives in a myriad of ways don’t actually get any of the money recovered through these ridiculous lawsuits. Not one red cent.
Next time you wonder why CDs are $20, I think I have an answer for you. This system is broken. There is no reason to support the record industry by purchasing music. If you want to support artists, download their music for free and send them a crisp, new $5 bill. They’ll appreciate it a lot more, trust me.
The model the music industry uses can not and will not continue to work.
Any ideas on another model (not itunes) that would work better?
Additionally, what is the role of the record labels if it is not to sell music? Should they have one at all?
This is news? Now, finally? I thought most people had this figured out 5 years ago..
The music industry’s dirty little secret is that bootlegs are good for business. They were back in the ’60’s, they were in the ’70’s and ’80’s, and they are–in the form of file sharing–now. People sharing music isn’t stealing–it’s free publicity. It motivates paying behaviors like going to shows and buying other content.
I argue that we would have a very different perception of acts like the Grateful Dead and Bruce Springsteen if it weren’t for good ol’ bootlegs.
I’d like to think that musicians that got into “the business” because they like performing and making music and spreading their message to as many as possible understand this.
You are right, artists get nothing from the RIAA lawsuits. Know why?
Most of these artists have signed away all rights to the music they make..
Look at the extremes Trent Reznor had to go to in order to free his NiN music from the grips of the record industry..
Out & Out, RIAA and DRM are bastardizations of the true capability of technology, sick caricatures of tech’s ability to spread the word and break down barriers being employed to help those on top of the pile continue fleecing those on the bottom. Without focusing at all on the fact that the film industry is based entirely on a bunch of jackasses who stole Edison’s video camera and ran out west so they wouldn’t get caught (check into the roots of the music industry and find disturbing similarities). With all due respect - wait a second, there isn’t any. The music industry survives off us, so they should exist in their business functions to serve us, right? - They can take a huge flying fuck off a very short pier. Remember the digg effect on the new hexcode? That’s right my friends, NO ONE CAN STOP WHAT’S COMING AND THE ONLY THING THAT CAN SLOW IT DOWN IS THEM CONVINCING US THAT THEY HAVE CONTROL. They crack the whip at you, they bring you into court for file-sharing, tell them to fuck off and tell the judge to fuck off if he sides with money instead of people. After all, judgments (court order to pay a debt) have a statute of limitations, states have homestead acts, some states can’t have liens applied.
Do Not abandon the fundamentals. Stare that gigantic greasy monster in the face and smile, knowing there’s a snowball’s chance in hell that you’ll win the thing. This is the challenge, we young’n’s have seen the future, and it is our responsibility to pave the road to it. Free information, free people
Don’t feel too bad for the artists. Most of them are poor because they snorted, smoked, or injected all their profits while they were in the studio cutting the album.
The RIAA is not doing anything more or less noble than the artists. The RIAA are being scumbags, just in a different way than the artists. I say start doing drug raids on studios and throw the artists in jail to teach them a lesson for sitting there and doing nothing while the RIAA ripped into their fan base.
You know there are a lot of artists who want you to download their music -for free- and share it with people -for free-
Maybe we should stop supporting “the industry” and start supporting artists/sites like dmusic.com, and opsound.org.
I find a lot of music that the artists want you to download, granted it’s a little harder to find, but still just as good as anything I hear on the radio.
It’s great when you find a band that no one knows about, and they totally rock.
This is a good question. For the last several decades it was thought that a record label was a requisite for a profitable career in music. In the era of physical distribution this was probably true. It takes a lot of time and skill to produce a record, have the record manufactured, secure and manage channels of distribution, and manage promotion.
Now the linchpin of that list, channels of distribution, is not even remotely as daunting as it once was. Anyone can distribute their music globally for next to nothing. Without a label taking 90 cents on the dollar an artist has to sell a lot less records to make money.
I’m an independent artist. I don’t think I’m likely to attract the attention of a major, but even if I was I would be hesitant to join into a contract with them. It seems like I would be giving up a lot for not that much in return.
Have a look at http://magnatune.com/ and you will see a model that works well for all concerned.
i don’t feel sorry for the musicians at all. they allowed themselves to compromise their art for money and fame. no one forced the contracts on them. no one threatened their families. all they did was say, “how would you like a million dollars and a regular rotation on mtv.” the artists then gleefully signed away their art without reading the contracts. they deserve to loose their money to the lawyers. the lawyers certainly read the entirety of every contract they sign. perhaps ten years ago bands had trouble getting out their message. this is no longer the case. i live in mississippi and regularly listen to unsigned bands from norway, sweden, uk, montana, alaska, and on and on. the real greed here comes from the artists. then everyone gets all surprised when the corporations act like corporations. i dig file sharing because it starves them all. art improves with starvation while corporations dry up and die. win/win in my book.
The thing I think is lame is that by suing people it makes everyone hate them even more which in turn makes people that much less likely to actually buy their products at all. They’re clinging to the last hope of their ancient business model.