It's quite clear. If I steal your motorbike, you can't ride home. If I copy
your Mira Calix album, you can still play it. Calling it stealing is
misleading and innaccurate. However, copyright was supposedly devised for
the benefit of society in general. This was agreed over decades by
international organisations, record labels, advocacy groups and
democratically elected representatives. Maybe you think copyright is morally
indefensible, maybe you think it has been broken by technology and it needs
to be replaced by another system that provides the same benefits - if you're
really confident that you can provide a solution where others have failed,
you could campaign and lobby I guess. But just moaning about how 'the man'
is ripping everybody off is a waste of precious youth ;) Also, if you are
feeling like a poor exploited Westerner, bear in mind that a record label
and artist can expect to get around $5 for a full-length cd which has to
cover manufacturing, art and the rest. I don't understand why people say
labels are ripping everybody off on cd prices when they charge less for the
finished item than the distribution and shops charge just for selling it.
--
ed
http://www.noiseloop.com
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