RANT Alert - FCUK The Music Industry

Sony BMG chief anti-piracy lawyer Jennifer Pariser was put on the stand yesterday in the trial Capital Records et al v. Jammie Thomas (Duluth, Minnesota). During her testimony Pariser had this gem to say about copyright and personal use:

...asked if it was wrong for consumers to make copies of music which they have purchased [like to rip to an iPod], even just one copy. Pariser replied, "When an individual makes a copy of a song for himself, I suppose we can say he stole a song." Making "a copy" of a purchased song is just "a nice way of saying 'steals just one copy'," she said.

Countless studies have shown that the majority of music on portable music players like the iPod comes from sources other than download services. For most people, that music is comprised primarily of songs "ripped" from CD collections to MP3 or some other comparable format. Indeed, most portable music players comes with software (like iTunes) which is designed to facilitate the easy ripping of CDs. According to Pariser's view, this is stealing.

To this I give Pariser, Sony BMG, and the entire music industry the flaming middle finger. You are trying to tell me that after I paid upwards of $20 for a CD I basically have to buy the album AGAIN from iTunes or another digital music store if I want to listen to it with my MP3 player?!?! Pariser also implies that if I want a copy on my computer and my MP3 player I better buy two copies. That is ridiculous, and if thats the case I will never buy an album again.

When I purchase a CD I obviously don't own the actual songs contained on the CD...those rights belong to the artist and the record label. So what did I just pay for? Does this not imply that I have purchased the right to listen to the music whenever I want? It's the whenever I want that's important here...I can listen to it for FREE whenever the radio station decides to play it. I can listen to it for free if someone in my office decides to play the music over their computer speakers. It's the ability to listen to the music whenever I want to hear it that motivates me to buy the CD. I feel that once I own the rights to listen to the song whenever I want how does the format matter? It's not like by making a copy and listening to both at the same time I gain something...I can still only listen to one at a time.

If I buy stick butter but I decide I'd like whipped butter today do I have to let the stick butter rot in my fridge and go buy whipped butter?! Can't I just hit that with my mixer?

These companies have overcharged for music with price fixing for decades, I don't feel bad that their profits have been shrinking steadily. I refuse to let them manufacture a new revenue stream out of thin air. If they charged say $0.05 a song maybe having to buy multiple copies wouldn't be such a big deal...