Music industry wants those that share lyrics on the Net jailed (1 Viewer)

[Marko Berg]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4508158.stm



Way to go. Every one of those snotty kids who dare to be fans of a music group deserve everything that is coming to them. It is only fair that web sites that display lyrics be shut down and those responsible be not fined but jailed, while the fuck-ups that conceived the Sony XCP rootkit copy-protection software should receive a medal or Presidential award of some kind.

My faith in the music industry to do right thing has officially been forever lost.

 

[Rob Gillespie]

Going on the quality of a lot of what passes for 'lyrics' the music industry should be kissing their backsides, not threatening them.

 

[brentl]

I agree, what right do we have to know what the artists are singing about!

Brent

 

[Rob Gillespie]

LOL, it's incase we find out what they're warbling on about that the industry is scared of.

I'd be interested from hearing someone who knows what they're talking about exactly what harm lyric sites perform. I find them dead useful, especially if I can remember a line from a song but not know anything else. I probably have two or three CDs in my collection that I've bought to get that song I looked up on a lyric site.


Instrument tab I can understand, but lyrics?

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

What it boils down to is that unauthorzed distribution of copyrighted material is illegal, period, and those who violate the law should be punished for doing so. The argument for jail terms is to provide a disincentive for breaking the law.

The harm is quite simple. If lyrics were only available in the CD packaging, then only those who bought a legitimate copy of the CD would have access to them in printed form - if the text is available freely, and the music is available freely (also through unauthorized distribution), then the commercial value of the work is diminished. The case could also be made that having text available for free also impeeds a publisher's ability to license the material for other printed material, such as song books, so in a very real way it jeopardizes the livelihood of the author/publisher.

Of course that public doesn't give a rat's ass about whether songwriters can make a living as long as there is music to be had. Sharing copyrighted material without a license is bad m'kay.

 

[Jack Briggs]

Let's see here: music, music industry, lyrics, Websites that post musical lyrics ... why was this posted in After Hours? Now it's where it belongs. Carry on.

 

[Rob Gillespie]

I find it hard to believe anyone would actually buy a CD just to get the lyrics. People use these sites to look up the words to the songs they like, possibly because they don't have the original CD for sure, but also possibly because it's just more convenient to Google a phrase rather than going through all of your collection's booklets to find what you're after, that of course, is presuming you own the disc in the first place.

I'm not denying the fact there's an illegal element to this, but there's a damn-useful element too. Also, I don't deny that you're not supposed to reproduce lyrics without 'express permission'. Fine, but perhaps the companies need to think for a minute about why these sites exist. Contrary to what some of the studios and labels think, we're not all bastard criminals who need to be put in jail.

But whatever, shut them down, fine them, execute them or whatever they want to do, but they wont gain by doing so.

 

[Marko Berg]

Sorry, Jack. :b

Not all CDs I've bought contained the lyrics in the packaging. Those CDs cost just as much as those that included the lyrics. Why?

In addition, I listen to nearly all of my music as MP3s and rummaging in the closet to look for the CD to read the lyrics is cumbersome. Does a commercial service that allows downloading of lyrics even exist? Where is the harm to songwriters if the work isn't even available for a fee? Instead of threats, the music industry might want to focus on competition and perhaps offer some added-value content to those interested.

 

[Brandon_T]

Not to mention, only a certain amount of CD's have the lyrics inside the cover. One example of my CD's that I had to look up some lyrics for was my Genesis:Three Sides live double disc set. No lyrics inside, but I guess I should just guess at some of the lines and not actually be able to find out what they are saying...

 

[Garrett Lundy]

I read the link twice and I think it is talking about websites that list tabs & scores. I didn't think it was talking just about lyric sites.

Anyway its a UK problem, I won't have to worry about it for months.... . Although I did read the bass tab for Rammstein's Weisses Fleisch back in '99. Hopefully I've surpassed that statute of limitations.

 

[Jordan_E]

"Uh uh uh/
yeah yeah yeah/
uh yeah uh"*

*lyrics from a number of 'modern' songs-

Okay, go ahead, throw me in jail now!

(The above was intended as political parody and any record execs out there who can actually read please don't throw me in jail!)

 

[Tim Hoover]

This has to be one of the most inane statements I've heard recently. Does the MPA really believe that some cover band, playing in a bar 3 nights a week, is taking business away from the original artist? Does the MPA believe that a guitar student, wanting to learn a favorite song on the radio, is taking business away from the original artist? I can easily play every instrumental part on REM's Automatic for the People album, yet I don't see anyone knocking at my door to replace REM at a concert. I suppose this proposal could make any form of artistic emulation illegal. If the MPA really wants to take this to its logical conclusion, they should join forces with the movie industry and jail everyone who used a jump-cut after the release of Lawrence of Arabia...

 

[BobV]

Mark my words... it will soon be deemed 'illegal' to purchase a CD and listen to it. You will only be allowed to look at the CD packaging, and then only if you are by yourself in an approved viewing booth after signing the EULA and accompanying release form.

 

[ChristopherDAC]

Heck, that's perfectly legal, it's even encouraged. There's some kind of blanket deal, just like the blanket "mechanical reproduction royalty" a radio station pays, or a bar where they play CDs over the sound system.

Seriously, this is ridiculous. Considering that a good deal of the tablature out there is made up by the people who post it [and I've often thought the same about the song lyrics ], and a great deal of the material out there is out-of-print either as records or as sheet music, or incontestable Public Domain, and that songwriters -- repeat after me! -- normally build on the work of those who have gone before them, instead of inventing their own musical styles,systems of notation, poetic motifs, and spoken languages, the wider distribution of musical information helps the small songwriter more than it hurts him, and nothing's going to impoverish Paul McCartney at this point. I suppose Mr. Keiser also wants people who come out of concerts whistling their favourite tunes jailed!

 

[Rob Gillespie]

I'm surprised that as of yet, we haven't seen a move by the industry to stop - or at least put a tax on - used CD sales. I mean think about it, some grubby common person is getting copyrighted material but the ARTIST (err and label, *cough *cough) isn't making any money from the sale. The bastards!

 

[Rachael B]

Oh my gawd, I once wrote down the lyrics to a Todd Rundgren song and even memorized it, help me, help me, Rhonda I'm a smooth criminal.

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

There has already been a move by the industry to do this, but used CD sales fall under the First Sale Doctrine, which applies to all uses of copyrighted material, not just music. Under the FSD, an author is only entitled to compensation for the first sale of a given carrier, ie. CD, book, whatever. The only IP creators who seem to be exempt from this limitation are software companies, who routinely circumvent the law with convoluted, and often unenforceable EULAs that prohibit or restrict the resale of their licenses.

 

[Rob Gardiner]

Rob,


Garth Brooks' Used CD Controversy

 

[Greg_S_H]

Most lyrics sites are traps anyway. They take the lyrics from some existing site and put them on theirs for the sole purpose of loading your computer with spyware or virii, or just to get you to generate ad revenue for them by visiting. If you're somewhat computer savvy, this isn't a factor, but the main purpose of these sites is to catch those who aren't. It's no different from all of the clip art, font, and wallpaper sites that are set up for the same purpose. I can't tell you how many times I have to clean out relatives' computers, and they always have to own up when I ask if they've been searching for lyrics/clip art/etc. again. This is, by the way, one of the main reasons an incorrect lyric will show up on just about every site. They aren't exactly doing their own legwork.

But, if someone runs a fan site and includes some of the band's lyrics, a cease-and-desist seems to be the only really smart move.

 

[Rob Gillespie]

Brooks needs a good slap.