Great article from the ABC in Australia on piracy, check it out here.
"Nowadays, copyright barely resembles what it was originally designed for i.e. to protect both parties: inventors and content creators on the one side and the public on the other. Corporate America and government compliance have written out public interests in many instances."
Further Reading
ABC, The case for piracy (20 October 2011) < http://www.abc.net.au/technology/articles/2011/10/20/3344351.htm > at 26 October 2011
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Saturday, October 15, 2011
NPR - Two Great Articles on Protest Music
Just wanted to draw your attention to two great articles recently from NPR.
The first titled "Where Are They Now?: 7 Protest Songs With Legs" looks at the history of protest music and examines the use and reuse of seven songs - We Shall Overcome, We Shall Not Be Moved, Solidarity Forever, This Little Light of Mine, This Land Is Your Land, Which Side Are You On? and Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around. Well worth a read, the article has youtube clips for each song and discusses their relevance to protests over time.
The second article is titled "21st Century Protest Music: Will There Be Another Dylan? Should There Be?" and covers the Occupy Wall Street protest and the music that has been played and the artists that have participated. The article goes on to note that there has not been a stand out song or one particular artist that has dominated the rally and questions the role of music in this protest seeing it as an opportunity for a new 'Dylan'.
Further Reading
NPR, Where Are They Now?: 7 Protest Songs With Legs (14 October 2011) < http://www.npr.org/blogs/therecord/2011/10/14/141316750/where-are-they-now-7-protest-songs-with-legs?sc=fb&cc=fp > at 15 October 2011
NPR, 21st Century Protest Music: Will There Be Another Dylan? Should There Be? (8 October 2011) < http://www.npr.org/blogs/therecord/2011/10/09/141155461/21st-century-protest-music-will-there-be-another-dylan-should-there-be > at 15 October 2011
The first titled "Where Are They Now?: 7 Protest Songs With Legs" looks at the history of protest music and examines the use and reuse of seven songs - We Shall Overcome, We Shall Not Be Moved, Solidarity Forever, This Little Light of Mine, This Land Is Your Land, Which Side Are You On? and Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around. Well worth a read, the article has youtube clips for each song and discusses their relevance to protests over time.
The second article is titled "21st Century Protest Music: Will There Be Another Dylan? Should There Be?" and covers the Occupy Wall Street protest and the music that has been played and the artists that have participated. The article goes on to note that there has not been a stand out song or one particular artist that has dominated the rally and questions the role of music in this protest seeing it as an opportunity for a new 'Dylan'.
Further Reading
NPR, Where Are They Now?: 7 Protest Songs With Legs (14 October 2011) < http://www.npr.org/blogs/therecord/2011/10/14/141316750/where-are-they-now-7-protest-songs-with-legs?sc=fb&cc=fp > at 15 October 2011
NPR, 21st Century Protest Music: Will There Be Another Dylan? Should There Be? (8 October 2011) < http://www.npr.org/blogs/therecord/2011/10/09/141155461/21st-century-protest-music-will-there-be-another-dylan-should-there-be > at 15 October 2011
Friday, October 14, 2011
UPDATED: Aus AG calls for submissions on disclosing user identities
ZDNet and the Australian Pirate Party are reporting on a new proposal from the Australian Attorney General that would see a streamlined approach implemented for copyright owners to seek the disclosure of users identities for the purpose of copyright enforcement, most likely leading to a graduated response scheme.
Submissions are open until 22 November 2011 and I urge all readers to write in and oppose replacing the current system of court orders with basic judicial oversight in the disclosure of IP account holders details. The new system, which would replace the need to establish the probability of liability, will simply allow copyright holders to approach the court with the IP address of the user and a search report suggesting that they downloaded a file. Disclosure would be allowed on that basis.
It has been shown time and again that these investigation methods are flawed and in essence this proposal removes any need to establish actual infringement by removing the onus on the copyright holder to show probability. In the USA elderly citizens without file sharing software and even printers have been accused of copyright infringement with the investigation process being faulty.
The six page document, available here, suggests that the term 'carriage service provider' under the Telecommunications Act be expanded and that copyright Safe Harbours establish incentives for ISPs to co-operate with copyright holders.
This is a bad deal for the Australian public with need for court orders for the disclosure of private information being a basic human right. Write in now and show your opposition to the proposed changes. This is also a bad deal for ISPs who, despite having their costs met under the scheme, will be forced into the middle between copyright holders and users and be overwhelmed with the work of providing records to anyone who asks.
UPDATE: Apparently the AGs Department accidentally published a draft and the real document which has now been published does not call for a streamlined disclosure process... still worth a read and making a submission. You can find the updated document here.
Further Information
Australian Attorney General Department, Revising The Scope of the Copyright 'Safe Harbour Scheme; & the Process of seeking ISP Subscriber Details in Copyright Infringement Matters:Consultation Paper (October 2011) < http://www.ag.gov.au/www/agd/rwpattach.nsf/VAP/%28689F2CCBD6DC263C912FB74B15BE8285%29%7ERevising+the+scope.pdf/$file/Revising+the+scope.pdf > at 14 October 2011
ZDNet, Govt considers 'streamlined' piracy policy (14 October 2011) < http://www.zdnet.com.au/govt-considers-streamlined-piracy-policy-339324313.htm > at 14 October 2011
Delimiter, Govt redacts ISP anti-piracy consultation text (17 October 2011) < http://delimiter.com.au/2011/10/17/govt-redacts-isp-anti-piracy-consultation-text/> at 18 October 2011
Attorney Generals Department, Revising the Scope of the Copyright Safe Harbour Scheme (October 2011) < http://www.ag.gov.au/www/agd/agd.nsf/Page/Consultationsreformsandreviews_RevisingtheScopeoftheCopyrightSafeHarbourSchemetheProcessofSeekingISPSubscriberDetailsinCopyrightInfringementMatters > at 18 October 2011
Submissions are open until 22 November 2011 and I urge all readers to write in and oppose replacing the current system of court orders with basic judicial oversight in the disclosure of IP account holders details. The new system, which would replace the need to establish the probability of liability, will simply allow copyright holders to approach the court with the IP address of the user and a search report suggesting that they downloaded a file. Disclosure would be allowed on that basis.
It has been shown time and again that these investigation methods are flawed and in essence this proposal removes any need to establish actual infringement by removing the onus on the copyright holder to show probability. In the USA elderly citizens without file sharing software and even printers have been accused of copyright infringement with the investigation process being faulty.
The six page document, available here, suggests that the term 'carriage service provider' under the Telecommunications Act be expanded and that copyright Safe Harbours establish incentives for ISPs to co-operate with copyright holders.
This is a bad deal for the Australian public with need for court orders for the disclosure of private information being a basic human right. Write in now and show your opposition to the proposed changes. This is also a bad deal for ISPs who, despite having their costs met under the scheme, will be forced into the middle between copyright holders and users and be overwhelmed with the work of providing records to anyone who asks.
UPDATE: Apparently the AGs Department accidentally published a draft and the real document which has now been published does not call for a streamlined disclosure process... still worth a read and making a submission. You can find the updated document here.
Further Information
Australian Attorney General Department, Revising The Scope of the Copyright 'Safe Harbour Scheme; & the Process of seeking ISP Subscriber Details in Copyright Infringement Matters:Consultation Paper (October 2011) < http://www.ag.gov.au/www/agd/rwpattach.nsf/VAP/%28689F2CCBD6DC263C912FB74B15BE8285%29%7ERevising+the+scope.pdf/$file/Revising+the+scope.pdf > at 14 October 2011
ZDNet, Govt considers 'streamlined' piracy policy (14 October 2011) < http://www.zdnet.com.au/govt-considers-streamlined-piracy-policy-339324313.htm > at 14 October 2011
Delimiter, Govt redacts ISP anti-piracy consultation text (17 October 2011) < http://delimiter.com.au/2011/10/17/govt-redacts-isp-anti-piracy-consultation-text/> at 18 October 2011
Attorney Generals Department, Revising the Scope of the Copyright Safe Harbour Scheme (October 2011) < http://www.ag.gov.au/www/agd/agd.nsf/Page/Consultationsreformsandreviews_RevisingtheScopeoftheCopyrightSafeHarbourSchemetheProcessofSeekingISPSubscriberDetailsinCopyrightInfringementMatters > at 18 October 2011
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Music with a Message
Just a heads up that I am back on air - 92.9 River FM on Mondays from 3-4pm playing political music. Tune in if you around Northern NSW - unfortunately it is not available on the web.
Where has protest music gone?
Here is an awesome BBC radio show on the power and presence of political music. World Have Your Say: Live from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Cleveland was broadcast on 11 October 2011. Artists interviewed include Billy Bragg. The discussion covers what is political music, its history throughout the 1960s and 1970s and the place for political music today and its purpose. Of particular interest to me is the discussion about how protest music is not supported by the major record labels and the difficulties it has making it into the mainstream.
Further Information
BBC, World Have Your Say: Live from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Cleveland (11 October 2011) < http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00kkthp > at 12 October 2011
Further Information
BBC, World Have Your Say: Live from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Cleveland (11 October 2011) < http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00kkthp > at 12 October 2011
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
ACTA and Larrikin
Two important developments in Australian Copyright issues this week with the signing of ACTA and a High Court determination with respect to the Larrikin Music Publishing case.
The ACTA agreement was signed in Japan this week - Australia, the USA, Canada, Japan, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore, and South Korea all signed on. The agreement does not, as originally intended, force countries to introduce a three strikes or graduated response scheme. It does however ensure that circumvention devices are illegal and further reinforces seizure and forfeiture laws with respect to counterfeit and pirated works and requires open ended damages awards for copyright infringement.There is not likely much change in the law required in Australia so the signing of the agreement is not that much of a problem - the agreement was significantly worse in its original form and has undergone significant changes over the three years it has been negotiated.
In other news the High Court of Australia has refused to hear an appeal in the Larrikin Music Publishing case leaving the Full Court of the Federal Court ruling in place that Men at Work infringed the copyright in the Kookaburra song. This is a disappointing outcome with the case a perfect example as to why fair dealing is a narrow and inflexible approach to sampling. I have previously written about the case here.
Further Reading
ArsTechnica, US signs ACTA (6 October 2011) < http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/10/us-signs-international-anti-piracy-accord.ars > at 11 October 2011
TechDirt, As Countries Sign ACTA, Many Finally Admit Their Copyright Laws Will Need To Change (3 October 2011) < http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20111002/22262616174/as-countries-sign-acta-many-finally-admit-their-copyright-laws-will-need-to-change.shtml > at 11 October 2011
TechDirt, Insanity: Men At Work Lose Final Appeal For Using Brief Riff Of Classic Folks Song, Which Went Unnoticed For Decades (7 October 2011) < http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20111007/14211416254/insanity-men-work-lose-final-appeal-using-brief-riff-classic-folks-song-which-went-unnoticed-decades.shtml > at 11 October 2011
The ACTA agreement was signed in Japan this week - Australia, the USA, Canada, Japan, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore, and South Korea all signed on. The agreement does not, as originally intended, force countries to introduce a three strikes or graduated response scheme. It does however ensure that circumvention devices are illegal and further reinforces seizure and forfeiture laws with respect to counterfeit and pirated works and requires open ended damages awards for copyright infringement.There is not likely much change in the law required in Australia so the signing of the agreement is not that much of a problem - the agreement was significantly worse in its original form and has undergone significant changes over the three years it has been negotiated.
In other news the High Court of Australia has refused to hear an appeal in the Larrikin Music Publishing case leaving the Full Court of the Federal Court ruling in place that Men at Work infringed the copyright in the Kookaburra song. This is a disappointing outcome with the case a perfect example as to why fair dealing is a narrow and inflexible approach to sampling. I have previously written about the case here.
Further Reading
ArsTechnica, US signs ACTA (6 October 2011) < http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/10/us-signs-international-anti-piracy-accord.ars > at 11 October 2011
TechDirt, As Countries Sign ACTA, Many Finally Admit Their Copyright Laws Will Need To Change (3 October 2011) < http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20111002/22262616174/as-countries-sign-acta-many-finally-admit-their-copyright-laws-will-need-to-change.shtml > at 11 October 2011
TechDirt, Insanity: Men At Work Lose Final Appeal For Using Brief Riff Of Classic Folks Song, Which Went Unnoticed For Decades (7 October 2011) < http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20111007/14211416254/insanity-men-work-lose-final-appeal-using-brief-riff-classic-folks-song-which-went-unnoticed-decades.shtml > at 11 October 2011
Broadband Penetration vs Album Sales
Check out this animated graph from Digital Music News illustrating the increase in broadband uptake and the corresponding drop in album sales for the music industry over the last decade:
Digital Music News, Broadband Penetration vs Album Sales (2 October 2011)
< http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/100211broadband > at 11 October 2011
Digital Music News, Broadband Penetration vs Album Sales (2 October 2011)
< http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/100211broadband > at 11 October 2011
Monday, October 3, 2011
Spotify and Facebook
There have been some major changes announced recently with the integration of music with facebook. With the recent launch of spotify in the USA I am particularly interested in the merger between it and facebook.
It was reported this week that spotify account holders are now required to have a facebook account. This seems like an odd requirement and one that could backfire with some people not wishing to use facebook at all. This seems to be a cross promotional arrangement and is likely to improve integration with the two services with one login password able to activate both.
Recent changes to facebook include the live reporting of user activity and the ability to share music with friends through facebook. Interestingly enough spotify users will be able to restrict the reporting of their listening habits through the settings in spotify - there has been no indication that such reporting restrictions are possible through the new facebook interface. Nor has there been reports that other music services to be integrated with facebook will have the same ability to restrict the sharing of listening activity. Indeed it has been reported that facebook are using cookies to track users activities even after they have logged out of the service.
There have been some negative developments for Spotify however with three independent labels withdrawing their catalogues from the service citing a lack of financial viability as the reason. Spotify suggest that this was an error on the labels part and were quick to point out that copyright holders are not paid for each time the music is streamed but rather are paid for allowing access to the music. This does seem counterproductive for labels that are most likely to need the exposure to new audiences to create momentum for independent artists. Two million paying subscribers are a large potential audience and this could be the case of shooting oneself in the foot.
Having said that, recent reports suggest that independent acts do make very little out of spotify. European band Uniform Motion suggest they get 0.003 EUR/play. If you listen to the album all the way through, they get 0.029 EUR. If you listen to the album 10 times on Spotify, they get 0.29 EUR. If you listen to it a hundred times, they get 2.94 EUR and if you listen to the album 1,000 times (once a day for 3 years!)they get 29.47 EUR! This does seem like a hard way to make money and at a fraction of the rate of downloads from iTunes for example.
Further Reading
Digital Music News, It Gets Worse: Spotify Now Requiring New Users to Have Facebook Accounts... (27 September 2011) < http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/092611marriage > at 3 October 2011
TechDirt, Labels Dropping Out Of Spotify Are Totally Missing The Point (23 September 2011) < http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110922/11224716052/labels-dropping-out-spotify-are-totally-missing-point.shtml > at 26 September 2011
Digital Music News, The Facebook Effect: It's Time to Rethink How Music Works... (23 September 2011) < http://digitalmusicnews.com/stories/092211facebookmusic > at 26 September 2011
Digital Music News, Facebook's Extreme Makeover: It's Happening, Already... (22 September 2011) < http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/092111facebook > at 26 September 2011
Digital Music News, Spotify Now Surpassing 2 Million Paying Subscribers... (22 September 2011) < http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/092111spotify > at 26 September 2011
Digital Music News, Then, This: Another Indie Pulls Out of Spotify... (20 September 2011) <http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/091911spotify > at 26 September 2011
Digital Music News, Spotify Defends Its Payout Structure... (20 September 2011) <http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/091911spotifydefends > at 26 September 2011
TechDirt, How Much Does A Band Make From Various Music Platforms? (12 September 2011) < http://www.techdirt.com/blog/casestudies/articles/20110911/00284415891/how-much-does-band-make-various-music-platforms.shtml > at 19 September 2011
Digital Music News, What an Artist Really Gets Paid, Continued... (14 September 2011) <http://digitalmusicnews.com/stories/091311artistmakes > at 19 September 2011
Digital Music News, Facebook Admits to Tracking Logged-Out Users... (28 September 2011) < http://digitalmusicnews.com/stories/092711facebook > at 3 October 2011
It was reported this week that spotify account holders are now required to have a facebook account. This seems like an odd requirement and one that could backfire with some people not wishing to use facebook at all. This seems to be a cross promotional arrangement and is likely to improve integration with the two services with one login password able to activate both.
Recent changes to facebook include the live reporting of user activity and the ability to share music with friends through facebook. Interestingly enough spotify users will be able to restrict the reporting of their listening habits through the settings in spotify - there has been no indication that such reporting restrictions are possible through the new facebook interface. Nor has there been reports that other music services to be integrated with facebook will have the same ability to restrict the sharing of listening activity. Indeed it has been reported that facebook are using cookies to track users activities even after they have logged out of the service.
There have been some negative developments for Spotify however with three independent labels withdrawing their catalogues from the service citing a lack of financial viability as the reason. Spotify suggest that this was an error on the labels part and were quick to point out that copyright holders are not paid for each time the music is streamed but rather are paid for allowing access to the music. This does seem counterproductive for labels that are most likely to need the exposure to new audiences to create momentum for independent artists. Two million paying subscribers are a large potential audience and this could be the case of shooting oneself in the foot.
Having said that, recent reports suggest that independent acts do make very little out of spotify. European band Uniform Motion suggest they get 0.003 EUR/play. If you listen to the album all the way through, they get 0.029 EUR. If you listen to the album 10 times on Spotify, they get 0.29 EUR. If you listen to it a hundred times, they get 2.94 EUR and if you listen to the album 1,000 times (once a day for 3 years!)they get 29.47 EUR! This does seem like a hard way to make money and at a fraction of the rate of downloads from iTunes for example.
Further Reading
Digital Music News, It Gets Worse: Spotify Now Requiring New Users to Have Facebook Accounts... (27 September 2011) < http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/092611marriage > at 3 October 2011
TechDirt, Labels Dropping Out Of Spotify Are Totally Missing The Point (23 September 2011) < http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110922/11224716052/labels-dropping-out-spotify-are-totally-missing-point.shtml > at 26 September 2011
Digital Music News, The Facebook Effect: It's Time to Rethink How Music Works... (23 September 2011) < http://digitalmusicnews.com/stories/092211facebookmusic > at 26 September 2011
Digital Music News, Facebook's Extreme Makeover: It's Happening, Already... (22 September 2011) < http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/092111facebook > at 26 September 2011
Digital Music News, Spotify Now Surpassing 2 Million Paying Subscribers... (22 September 2011) < http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/092111spotify > at 26 September 2011
Digital Music News, Then, This: Another Indie Pulls Out of Spotify... (20 September 2011) <http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/091911spotify > at 26 September 2011
Digital Music News, Spotify Defends Its Payout Structure... (20 September 2011) <http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/091911spotifydefends > at 26 September 2011
TechDirt, How Much Does A Band Make From Various Music Platforms? (12 September 2011) < http://www.techdirt.com/blog/casestudies/articles/20110911/00284415891/how-much-does-band-make-various-music-platforms.shtml > at 19 September 2011
Digital Music News, What an Artist Really Gets Paid, Continued... (14 September 2011) <http://digitalmusicnews.com/stories/091311artistmakes > at 19 September 2011
Digital Music News, Facebook Admits to Tracking Logged-Out Users... (28 September 2011) < http://digitalmusicnews.com/stories/092711facebook > at 3 October 2011
Pirate Party Australia Annual Congress 2011.
The Australian Pirate Party are holding their second annual conference titled Activism in the Digital Age on October 29/30 at the Paragon Hotel Circular Quay, Sydney.
The first day is dedicated to political discussions, workshops and a public meeting. They will be discussing the rise of activism online and the parties approach to digital politics. On the second day policies and changes to the constitution will be discussed.
Further information will be released closer to the conference date and can be found here.
The first day is dedicated to political discussions, workshops and a public meeting. They will be discussing the rise of activism online and the parties approach to digital politics. On the second day policies and changes to the constitution will be discussed.
Further information will be released closer to the conference date and can be found here.
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