piracy.An issue?

[jesse]

hey all, i really need to ask. Do you agree that piracy is an issue to the future of the entertainment industry?
should issues like morality, revenue and gradul seriousness be overweighed by simply the temptation of convieneice, substantial costs and simplisity of piracy?

Or should it instead be revered as the more important factor?

feedback will be appreciated!

[Cathar1950]

BUt how does it affect the future of the entertainment industry?

I think this is exciting times we live in. The playing field is being leveled. The small players are starting to have equal footing with the big players. And not just for music, but for videos, movies, books, news, et al. And not just the entertainment industry, but the software industry as well is being revolutionized.

... now if I could just figure out how to partake in monetizing this revolution.

I couldn't agree more. Let the money spin and share the wealth.

As a consumer I think it all should be free to me.
In fact we should be paid to consume.
It would really level the market.
Information; history and art are all wonderful human expressions that are to be shared.
If some one is making money off something then some one else should be too.
The butler, the maid and friends and family could al share.

I don’t see moral decadence. Decadence would mean that morality is declining.
It is still being fought out in courts and the markets. There are more freedoms and instantaneous information. In a sense TV gives us constant moral judgments in news, talk shows, commercials comedy and drama.
I think the media does a fine job of telling us what is right and wrong or important, don’t you? We are told what people think and what you should think and what questions are important. Maybe we are as Postman suggests; amusing ourselves to death.
But Mack is right it is stealing. But in the world that is becoming vast and information centered it seems there is an obligation to provide equal access to what is needed to be a contributing citizen. But I am for universal healthcare, education, shelter, clothing and food. Then the rest should be exploration and entertainment. Whatever the market can handle without hurting animals and humans.

We see more then we need concerning personal lives, as it is interesting and sells.
I hate shows like “cops” it gives you the impression all criminals should be treated like vermin. I would rather have bad morality then bad taste.

What was the OP about?

[McCulloch]

The industry has made it's money off the backs of the artists for years. I have no sympathy for the talentless idiots at the top losing their share.

The shift to electronic medium will simply change how artists make their money. It will no longer be on getting it right once in a studio, but in live performances.

Best of luck to those who cant actually perform/sing. Maybe we can weed out the spears etc out of the industry with a few lives performances.

The publishing industry has made it's money off the backs of the writers for years. I have no sympathy for the talentless idiots at the top losing their share.

The shift to electronic medium will simply change how writers make their money. It will no longer be on getting it right once and selling it to a publisher, but in live readings.

Best of luck to those who can't actually read aloud well.

[ST88]

hey all, i really need to ask. Do you agree that piracy is an issue to the future of the entertainment industry?

I always wondered why they called it something cool like "piracy". Hey, I'm a pirate!, etc. As far as the entertainment industry is concerned, they were dead set against the VCR for the same reason, and now video is almost half if not more of the profit that movie studios get from their movies.

In my opinion, piracy is only an issue for entertainment companies who are in it for the money. I self-published published a novel, barely broke even and am happy with the results. If I was in it for the money, I never would have done it. I would have written a cookbook or a fireside mystery. Similarly, a musician who loves music will want to write and perform music. If a multi-million dollar contract is waved in his face to do that, then he should jump at the chance, no question. But he's still going to make music no matter how much money you wave at him.

I have also always wondered at the music industry's insistence at demanding outrageously high fees for licenses to use particular songs in movies or TV or even to print lyrics. I would think that this is a form of advertising, at the very least viral marketing. But their strategy seems to be to make the music they control into some sort of magic potion or fool's-gold-en goose, to keep the price high and therefore make it seem to be worth more.

I think piracy is unstoppable and that the entertainment industry is now focusing on dumbing down the population to make them think that there is a difference between legitimate pop-culture sources (cool) and illegitimate ones (dorky).

But as to the morality of piracy, it's theft because they own the material, and it will be theft until they say it isn't. It's theft in the same way that stealing an orange off of a tree is theft.

[McCulloch]

But as to the morality of piracy, it's theft because they own the material, and it will be theft until they say it isn't. It's theft in the same way that stealing an orange off of a tree is theft.

Good analogy. If you take oranges off of my tree, it is theft.

[Vladd44]

The industry has made it's money off the backs of the artists for years. I have no sympathy for the talentless idiots at the top losing their share.

The shift to electronic medium will simply change how artists make their money. It will no longer be on getting it right once in a studio, but in live performances.

Best of luck to those who cant actually perform/sing. Maybe we can weed out the spears etc out of the industry with a few lives performances.

The publishing industry has made it's money off the backs of the writers for years. I have no sympathy for the talentless idiots at the top losing their share.

The shift to electronic medium will simply change how writers make their money. It will no longer be on getting it right once and selling it to a publisher, but in live readings.

Best of luck to those who can't actually read aloud well.

LOL Sorry, I must have missed this post earlier.

I don't think its an overreach to expect artists to perform for their money. It is how musicians made their living for centuries.

Copyright laws do not take current technologies into proper consideration. Frankly I am not so sure that the RIAA and company have any legal standing on mp3 and other lossy formats people distribute music in.

Clearly there is a point in which copyright has no bearing. I am sure most of us would not consider singing a copyrighted song in the shower is not illegal.

IF you compare a mp3 to the cda file on an audio cd there are significant differences. Size, data etc are all different. The only real question is how much different is enough?

[Angry_Pacifist]

I find it difficult to classify piracy as stealing, as you aren't actually taking the music, video, etc. from the person, rather it is being copied. I would classify it as a form of plagiarism.

[UBERROGO]

Personally I havent been sold that sounds should be able to by copy written (or what ever the technical legal term is that applies to music). But I suppose the law is the law and I should follow it.

[ST88]

I find it difficult to classify piracy as stealing, as you aren't actually taking the music, video, etc. from the person, rather it is being copied. I would classify it as a form of plagiarism.

Plagiarism would be if you copied it and claimed it as your own, a different type of theft with intent. Piracy is stealing because the artist owns the material and all manner of distribution of that material. With music, the artist owns all recordable instances of that music -- sheet music (if applicable), written lyrics, and recorded performance.

So if you're passing around the specific instance of that performance that the artist owns, then no matter how easy it is to copy, it's still theft.

[Vladd44]

With music, the artist owns all recordable instances of that music -- sheet music (if applicable), written lyrics, and recorded performance.

And that is the problem. Copyright laws at present are unrealistic in an era of flash drives, mp3s and high speed internet. The ability to "own" is predicated on your ability to constrict access.

In the past there were practical limitations that made such constrictions possible, but in the end reality will dictate a more neutral concept of ownership for artists.

I personally believe that fair use clauses and an admittedly narrow interpretation of current laws already leaves a loophole. The rehash of the VCR MPAA wars of the early eighties strengthens the argument for not All duplication is a violation of the law.

[ST88]

With music, the artist owns all recordable instances of that music -- sheet music (if applicable), written lyrics, and recorded performance.

And that is the problem. Copyright laws at present are unrealistic in an era of flash drives, mp3s and high speed internet. The ability to "own" is predicated on your ability to constrict access.

I don't think this is true. It's true for trademarks and patents because those can more readily fall into the mainstream. But creative works are complex individual, idiosyncratic visions of the world. The artist should not have to have an army of lawyers at their disposal prepared to fight for their copyright.

It's true that copyright laws are inadequate, but it's not because it's unrealistic to expect that rights can be asserted over a creative work that is easily distributable.