Re: [FairfieldLife] Pirate News: Hypocrisy of record labels revealed...and punished

[Bhairitu]

Time to review the history of both the music and film industry in the 
US.  Many record companies were started by organized crime so they could 
supply their jukeboxes with records rather than getting them from the 
"major labels."  Jack Holtzman of Electra was apparently the only record 
exec to recognize the Internet as a new medium of distribution back in 
the 1990s.  His words fell on deaf ears in the rest of the industry.

Hollywood exists because the east coast entrepreneurs of the 
nickelodeons didn't want to pay Edison royalties so they moved to the 
west coast out of reach of Edison's collection agents.

So talk about hypocrisy.

And the Netherlands signed the agreement that many countries did 
regarding piracy so you can get in trouble there for downloading 
torrents.  And yup Spain is on the "shit list" of the organization for 
not signing.

The phone "contract" thing is more a US thing the idea of fat headed 
telecom execs.  Of course you can go to stores like Best Buy and just 
buy the phone you want cash and then go month to month with different 
carriers even swapping out SIM cards.  How well they work on different 
systems is a different matter.  The iPhone that Verizon will be offering 
is different from the AT&T because it needs to handle CDMA.  Otherwise 
in the rest of the you have to buy the phone and then use it with 
whatever carrier you choose.  It's even that way in India.

Do Netherlanders even watch TV?  I remember seeing it at the airport.  
Maybe "progressive" Netherlanders hate TV (apparently like some FFL'ers).

On 01/13/2011 02:00 AM, TurquoiseB wrote:
> Weird. The Yahoo Rich Text Editor failed to work properly. So I
> repost this, to make it more readable and indicate which were
> my comments (in blue) and which were the author's.
>
> The same people trying to sue individuals for tens (sometimes hundreds)
> of thousands of dollars for downloading a few songs have no problem
> ripping off artists and infringing copyrights themselves. Everyone in
> the industry has known this for decades. Fortunately this time they got
> nailed for it in court to the tune of $45 million.
>
> BTW, in somewhat related news based on previous discussions here, just
> to compare to what you pay or have to put up with in the US, my ADSL
> service, which provides free phone calls anywhere, 20 Mbps Internet, and
> all HD or non-HD TV channels, costs me 30 Euros a month. All phones
> available in the Netherlands can be purchased "cracked" or "unlocked,"
> meaning that you can choose any provider you want to for them. This
> includes iPhones, for which you can choose among 20 or more providers to
> find the best rate, or even use them on a pay-as-you-go basis, without a
> contract.
>
> On the other hand, and a *huge* contrast between here and France or
> Spain, there is no free TV in the Netherlands. None. No broadcast TV of
> any kind, analog or digital. In both France and Spain all you had to do
> was buy a decoder and you had access to dozens of digital channels via
> broadcast, many in HD. Here you have to pay someone -- some private
> company or another -- to get any TV channels at all. I'm not sure where
> this came from, but I'm a little dismayed that a country so progressive
> in many ways doesn't provide any free TV to its citizens.
>
> Record Labels To Pay $45 Million for Pirating Artists' Music
>
> The major record labels are known for their harsh stance on copyright
> infringements, which in an ironic turn of events is now costing them
> millions of dollars. Revealing a double standard when it comes to
> `piracy', Warner Music, Sony BMG Music, EMI Music and Universal
> Music now have to pay Canadian artists $45 Million for the illegal use
> of thousands of tracks on compilation CDs.
>
> It is no secret that the major record labels have a double standard
> when it comes to copyright. On the one hand they try to put operators
> of BitTorrent sites in jail and ruin the lives of single mothers and
> students by demanding hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines, and on
> the other they sell CDs containing music for which they haven't
> always cleared the rights. This happens worldwide and more frequently
> than one would think.
>
> Over the years the labels have made a habit of using songs from a wide
> variety of artists for compilation CDs without securing the rights.
> They simply use the recording and make note of it on "pending
> list" so they can deal with it later. This has been going on since
> the 1980s and since then the list of unpaid tracks (or copyright
> infringements) has grown to 300,000 in Canada alone.
>
> This questionable practice has been the subject of an interesting
> Canadian class action lawsuit which was started in 2008. A group of
> artists and composers who grew tired of waiting endlessly for their
> money filed a lawsuit against four major labels connected to the CRIA,
> the local equivalent of the RIAA.
>
> Warner Music, Sony BMG Music, EMI Music and Universal Mus

[FairfieldLife] Pirate News: Hypocrisy of record labels revealed...and punished

[TurquoiseB]

Weird. The Yahoo Rich Text Editor failed to work properly. So I
repost this, to make it more readable and indicate which were
my comments (in blue) and which were the author's.

The same people trying to sue individuals for tens (sometimes hundreds)
of thousands of dollars for downloading a few songs have no problem
ripping off artists and infringing copyrights themselves. Everyone in
the industry has known this for decades. Fortunately this time they got
nailed for it in court to the tune of $45 million.

BTW, in somewhat related news based on previous discussions here, just
to compare to what you pay or have to put up with in the US, my ADSL
service, which provides free phone calls anywhere, 20 Mbps Internet, and
all HD or non-HD TV channels, costs me 30 Euros a month. All phones
available in the Netherlands can be purchased "cracked" or "unlocked,"
meaning that you can choose any provider you want to for them. This
includes iPhones, for which you can choose among 20 or more providers to
find the best rate, or even use them on a pay-as-you-go basis, without a
contract.

On the other hand, and a *huge* contrast between here and France or
Spain, there is no free TV in the Netherlands. None. No broadcast TV of
any kind, analog or digital. In both France and Spain all you had to do
was buy a decoder and you had access to dozens of digital channels via
broadcast, many in HD. Here you have to pay someone -- some private
company or another -- to get any TV channels at all. I'm not sure where
this came from, but I'm a little dismayed that a country so progressive
in many ways doesn't provide any free TV to its citizens.

Record Labels To Pay $45 Million for Pirating Artists' Music

The major record labels are known for their harsh stance on copyright
infringements, which in an ironic turn of events is now costing them
millions of dollars. Revealing a double standard when it comes to
`piracy', Warner Music, Sony BMG Music, EMI Music and Universal
Music now have to pay Canadian artists $45 Million for the illegal use
of thousands of tracks on compilation CDs.

It is no secret that the major record labels have a double standard
when it comes to copyright. On the one hand they try to put operators
of BitTorrent sites in jail and ruin the lives of single mothers and
students by demanding hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines, and on
the other they sell CDs containing music for which they haven't
always cleared the rights. This happens worldwide and more frequently
than one would think.

Over the years the labels have made a habit of using songs from a wide
variety of artists for compilation CDs without securing the rights.
They simply use the recording and make note of it on "pending
list" so they can deal with it later. This has been going on since
the 1980s and since then the list of unpaid tracks (or copyright
infringements) has grown to 300,000 in Canada alone.

This questionable practice has been the subject of an interesting
Canadian class action lawsuit which was started in 2008. A group of
artists and composers who grew tired of waiting endlessly for their
money filed a lawsuit against four major labels connected to the CRIA,
the local equivalent of the RIAA.

Warner Music, Sony BMG Music, EMI Music and Universal Music were sued
for the illegal use of thousands of tracks and risked paying damages of
up to $6 billion. Today the news broke that the two parties have agreed
upon a settlement, where the record labels are required to pay $45
million to settle

During the case the labels were painfully confronted with their own
double standard when it comes to copyright infringement. "The
conduct of the defendant record companies is aggravated by their strict
and unremitting approach to the enforcement of their copyright
interests against consumers," the artists argued in their initial
claim for damages.

Of course, the labels are not so quick to admit their wrongdoing and in
their press release the settlement is described as a compromise.
"The settlement is a compromise of disputed claims and is not an
admission of liability or wrongdoing by the record labels," it
reads.

Yeah, right. :-)

David Basskin, President and CEO of one of the major Canadian licensing
collectives, was nonetheless happy with the outcome. "This
agreement with the four major labels resolves all outstanding pending
list claims. EMI, Sony, Universal and Warner are ensuring that the net
result is more money for songwriters and music publishers. It's a
win for everyone," he said.

The major issues that led to this dispute are not resolved though.
After paying off a small part of their debt the labels can continue to
`pirate' artists' music as usual, using their work and
placing the outstanding payments on a pending list for decades. A real
solution would require the licensing system to change, and that's
not likely to happen anytime soon.

Exactly. And in the meantime they'll keep trying to prosecute
individuals for "piracy."

[FairfieldLife] Pirate News: Hypocrisy of record labels revealed...and punished

[TurquoiseB]

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The same people trying to sue individuals for tens (sometimes hundreds)
of thousands of dollars for downloading a few songs have no problem
ripping off artists and infringing copyrights themselves. Everyone in
the industry has known this for decades. Fortunately this time they got
nailed for it in court to the tune of $45 million.

BTW, in somewhat related news based on previous discussions here, just
to compare to what you pay or have to put up with in the US, my ADSL
service, which provides free phone calls anywhere, 20 Mbps Internet, and
all HD or non-HD TV channels, costs me 30 Euros a month. All phones
available in the Netherlands can be purchased "cracked" or "unlocked,"
meaning that you can choose any provider you want to for them. This
includes iPhones, for which you can choose among 20 or more providers to
find the best rate, or even use them on a pay-as-you-go basis, without a
contract.

On the other hand, and a *huge* contrast between here and France or
Spain, there is no free TV in the Netherlands. None. No broadcast TV of
any kind, analog or digital. In both France and Spain all you had to do
was buy a decoder and you had access to dozens of digital channels via
broadcast, many in HD. Here you have to pay someone -- some private
company or another -- to get any TV channels at all. I'm not sure where
this came from, but I'm a little dismayed that a country so progressive
in many ways doesn't provide any free TV to its citizens.
Record Labels To Pay $45 Million for Pirating Artists' Music
Written by Ernesto   on January
10, 2011
The major record labels are known for their  harsh stance on copyright
infringements, which in an ironic turn of  events is now costing them
millions of dollars. Revealing a double  standard when it comes to
`piracy', Warner Music, Sony BMG Music, EMI  Music and Universal
Music now have to pay Canadian artists $45 Million  for the illegal use
of thousands of tracks on compilation CDs.

It is no secret that the major record labels  have a double standard
when it comes to copyright. On the one hand they  try to put operators
of BitTorrent sites in jail and ruin the lives of  single mothers and
students by demanding hundreds of thousands of  dollars in fines, and on
the other they sell CDs containing music for  which they haven't
always cleared the rights. This happens worldwide and  more frequently
than one would think.

Over the years the labels have made a habit of using songs from a  wide
variety of artists for compilation CDs without securing the rights. 
They simply use the recording and make note of it on "pending
list" so  they can deal with it later. This has been going on since
the 1980s and  since then the list of unpaid tracks (or copyright
infringements) has  grown to 300,000 in Canada alone.

This questionable practice has been the subject of an interesting 
Canadian class action lawsuit which was started in 2008. A group of 
artists and composers who grew tired of waiting endlessly for their 
money filed a lawsuit against four major labels connected to the CRIA, 
the local equivalent of the RIAA.

Warner Music, Sony BMG Music, EMI Music and Universal Music were sued 
for the illegal use of thousands of tracks and risked paying damages of 
up to $6 billion. Today the news broke that the two parties have agreed 
upon a settlement, where the record labels are required to pay $45 
million to settle
  the
copyright infringement claims.

During the case the labels were painfully confronted with their own 
double standard when it comes to copyright infringement. "The
conduct of  the defendant record companies is aggravated by their strict
and  unremitting approach to the enforcement of their copyright
interests  against consumers," the artists argued in their initial
claim for  damages.

Of course, the labels are not so quick to admit their wrongdoing and  in
their press release the settlement is described as a compromise.
"The  settlement is a compromise of disputed claims and is not an
admission  of liability or wrongdoing by the record labels," it
reads
 .

Yeah, right.  :-)


David Basskin, President and CEO of one of the major Canadian  licensing
collectives, was nonetheless happy with the outcome. "This 
agreement with the four major labels resolves all outstanding pending 
list claims. EMI, Sony, Universal and Warner are ensuring that the net 
result is more money