RANT on Piracy

[Finnish_Fox]

Buy it on CD or vinyl.

I have it on vinyl - 3 copies in fact. My point was that not EVERYTHING is available at Beatport or whatever and, in a lot of cases, the vinyl and CD's can be equally difficult to find, but you might find someone with a rip of an underground track from 1992 at 128kbps. I have a lot of the old Suburban Base catalog ripped to mp3 and most of that is pretty difficult to find digitally.

Why does IP law need to be revamped? I honestly don't understand how that would foster more innovation and creative expression. Can anyone explain?

I would think you of all people on this forum would understand precisely how IP controls can inhibit creation and technological/innovative progress. Companies buy up and sit on patents all the time. While most of these are probably have no impact on anyone, there are certainly patents out there that are held by one entity which prevents another entity from using it in the development of a new technology.

A company looking to develop a breakthrough cancer treatment may be stopped dead in its tracks if a portion of that development is patented and they are not granted use and, that, IMO, hinders progress. Or, as Moyo stated, stuff related to sampling.

Then there is the other side of IP controls with crap like Monsanto and their ownership of every seed. The strict IP laws regarding agriculture have taken what humans have done for thousands of years and monetized it to the point that farmer's effectively do not own their own crops - the seeds (and resulting seeds from the crops) are owned by Monsanto. Don't see how anyone could think its logical or beneficial.

[Andrew B]

It seems that if one company wants to use another company's technology, they just have to pay. If they don't want to pay, then they can work around a patent, fostering innovation. I don't see a problem with that.

I definitely see your point with agriculture and medicine, though.

[Finnish_Fox]

It seems that if one company wants to use another company's technology, they just have to pay. If they don't want to pay, then they can work around a patent, fostering innovation. I don't see a problem with that. I definitely see your point with agriculture and medicine, though.

I agree... for the most part. I just don't think it is a black and white issue. I totally agree that a company that wants to build their own touchscreen for their phones should have to pay to use the technology or develop its own that does not infringe on the patent. But, in the case of some developing a medicine and technology that can save lives, the cost of securing usage rights can discourage companies from even trying to begin with.

Also, with music in the digital age, I do think the current protections which limit what we can legally do with music are a bit stiff. GirlTalk is gaining support from some government representatives, etc., in this area. I am not saying that he should make money while the original artist doesn't get credit/compensation but I think the extent to which it is protected is a bit overboard. Hell, you need a license to perform Happy Birthday publicly.

Disney ripped off fairy tales from authors like Hans Christen Andersen (even to the point of mimicking illustrations), parodied live action shows, made a butt load of money and then pressed for stringent content protections to protect what they had already "stolen". Led Zeppelin thought they'd just take an entire Muddy Waters song and electrify it... yet their unoriginal work is protected.

[GhOSt]

No matter what we do, with the frequent use of the Internet more then ever these days, piracy will be hard to stop. Unfortunately that's how it is.

Personally I'm against it because artists put many hours of dedication and hard work to produce what they do and it is unjust for someone to come stringing along, taking their products and making use of it or in some cases 're-inventing' it. The artist ends up getting none or almost no recognition for their work while the thief gets all the praise.

If I could get any artist, label, distributor in the hands I would personally give them whatever earnings I made off their work if I gained it illegally. At the end of the day, I could be in the very same position where my published work gets stolen and the next Tom, Dick and Harry gets acknowleged meant for stolen work (not accusing any person with these names lol). There will always be those that just won't abied by the rules, for whatever reason they conform to piracy.

I think most of those who download music don't always buy them

[M!TCH]

I can see both sides of this argument and quite frankly I am not out to change anyone's opinions on this matter. I pay for my music because I feel guilty if I don't. Yes, I think Beatport is a rip off. I also know that I have the option of not buying it and just listening to the tracks I like on sets from different artists. I will say that the sharing of music is almost to the point where piracy may not be more rampant for it I feel like better content delivery systems could help ease a lot of this.

And let's be real, if some of my favorite artists don't release some of their mash ups or personal remixes, COUGH COUGH SHATO & PAUL ROCKSEEK, then people are going to be more likely to get them elsewhere

[Archon]

Imagine if you put out a mixtape on SoundCloud. Then, one night, you go at that nice lounge in your area. And you hear your stolen mix playing on the PA system! I'm sure you'd be exploding in anger. But hey, making money from other's work without paying is not piracy it seems! (Funny how when the pirater gets himself pirated, the story takes a new perspective).

actually i'd be ecstatic at the fact that someone thought my mix was good enough to play live, lol. all i do is play in my bedroom, i dont make any money. i dont have a job, i cant get a job (not for lack of trying REALLY hard.) and i just dont have the money to pay 1.99 for a four minute (or less) song. i see no problem with pirating in my situation.

everyone here who says "hurr durr pirating bad ugg ugg -scratch ass-" is just elitist.
end thread.