New News and Old News

I apologize for my lack of posting recently. I just moved across the country to Providence, Rhode Island where milkshakes are called cabinets. Fortunately I don't have to worry about what milkshakes are called because it is about 20 degrees here and snowing and only a crazy person would want a milkshake*.

But enough about me, here are some links to interesting stories that have happened over the last few weeks:

-Charles Nesson, a law professor at Harvard, has launched a law suit against the RIAA. Nesson contests that the lawsuits filed by the RIAA against music downloaders were unconstitutional. You can read more here and even more on Professor Nesson's blog. The case is set to start this Thursday. 

-The RIAA has decided to stop suing its customers! However the association will continue with any lawsuits that have already been filed (much to the dismay of one Charles Nesson).

-The European Union is considering a copyright extension that its own studies have sown to be misguided. This video by the Open Rights Group gives a good explanation of the proposal and its downsides.

*That's a lie I wanted a milkshake earlier today and yesterday.

Digital sales outnumber CD sales at Atlantic Records

For the first time digital sales have outnumbered physical record sales at a major recording company. Here is an interesting NY Times article about the milestone (featuring the graph above). 

It is no wonder that the RIAA and the record companies that they represent are fighting so hard to stem the tide of digital media. As the Times article demonstrates, they have not figured out how to make money from digital downloads (or at least not enough). Rather than devote their time to reconfiguring their business models to fit new consumer trends, they are litigating to try to delay the inevitable. 

It is reminiscent of the American auto industry. For years analysts and consumers have been telling the industry that they want higher quality, more fuel efficient cars. Rather than retool and give the consumer what they wanted the American auto industry used their lobbying power to win tax incentives that allowed them to keep creating ridiculously outmoded vehicles

(subsidized by tax dollars).

Consumers and industry analysts are telling the major recording companies (as well as television, film, and news corporations) that they want easy access to the media of their choice on their own schedule. Consumers don't want to pay $19.00 for a CD that only has one song that they want on it. They want to pay $1.00 for the single on their computer. I don't think this is a trend that will be changing anytime soon. Yet recording companies continue to create the same ridiculously outmoded albums complete with antiquated publicity and lavish recording costs. 

Rather than compete for the business of consumers, media corporations, like the American auto industry, are attempting to use their powerful lobbyists and lawyers to protect their failing business models.

Another Copyright Documentary

There is a new documentary coming out centered around copyright, remixing, and, like Good Copy, Bad Copy, featuring Girl Talk. The new film is called RiP: A Remix Manifesto. It is not finished yet but I would imagine that it will be available for download once it is complete. The director, Brett Gaylor, has an interesting blog post about Go Home Productions. I don't know if the film will focus just on Girl Talk or more broadly on the mashup community, but it looks promising.

From the project website:

In RiP: A remix manifesto, Web activist and filmmaker Brett Gaylor explores issues of copyright in the information age, mashing up the media landscape of the 20th century and shattering the wall between users and producers.

The film’s central protagonist is Girl Talk, a mash-up musician topping the charts with his sample-based songs. But is Girl Talk a paragon of people power or the Pied Piper of piracy? Creative Commons founder, Lawrence Lessig, Brazil's Minister of Culture Gilberto Gil and pop culture criticCory Doctorow are also along for the ride.

A participatory media experiment, from day one, Brett shares his raw footage at opensourcecinema.org, for anyone to remix. This movie-as-mash-up method allows these remixes to become an integral part of the film. With RiP: A remix manifesto, Gaylor and Girl Talk sound an urgent alarm and draw the lines of battle.

Entertaining Documentary about Copyright

In case you haven't already seen it, Good Copy Bad Copy is a concise examination of the current state of copyright law. The documentary looks at several different ways that intellectual property rights are handled around the world and also offers some possible alternatives like Creative Commons. Another interesting alternative is a blanket licensing fee paid either to the telecom companies or in the form of a government tax. The proceeds would be distributed to the various companies that hold copyrights and then all the copyrighted content that they produce would be freely available. It seems improbable that this could take hold in the United States given the extreme fear of anything remotely socialist (unless it involves taking over banks and mortgages), but it is a fascinating alternative. It seems to me that no matter what your opinion of the need for copyright protection there is something wrong with a system that requires a 57 page EULA agreement to watch a children's Disney film.
You can stream the documentary Good Copy Bad Copy or download it via (a remarkably fast) torrent.