RIAA Going After a 10-Year-Old Girl
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes “The latest target of the RIAA’s ire is a 10-year-old girl in Oregon, who was 7 when the alleged infringement occurred, and whose disabled mother lives on Social Security. In Atlantic v. Andersen, an Oregon case that was widely reported in 2005 when the defendant counterclaimed against the RIAA under Oregon’s RICO statute and other laws, the defendant’s mother sought to limit the RIAA’s deposition of the child to telephone or video-conference. The RIAA has refused, insisting on being able to grill the little girl in person. Here are court documents (PDF).”
via Slashdot
Why the RIAA Sues Universities
To teach university students. Oh. Well I guess that makes sense.
This is a teachable moment — an opportunity to educate these particular students about the importance of music in their lives and the importance of respecting and valuing music as intellectual property
And from the post an excellent point: As usual, this sort of legal action will only drive music sharing underground where it can’t be as easily monitored (or monetized, for that matter).
Via Wired
And in response to the action the RIAA has taken against students, some universities have decided to take action back: RIAA Asked To Pay Up For Wasting School’s Time
RIAA Now the Worst Company in America
It’s amazing that they actually beat out Halliburton, although I am impressed that Halliburton was at least the other final contender.
The folks at BoingBoing make an excellent point on this one as well:
The RIAA isn’t the worst company in the world: Sony-BMG, Warner Music, EMI and Universal Music are the worst companies in the world. Focusing on the RIAA lets those firms — who fund and direct the RIAA’s efforts — off the hook.
Consumerist’s, who’s readers voted on the worst company, also has a follow-up post, Faces of the RIAA - where you can find the phone number to Edgar Bronfman’s office.
From Listening Posts’ post: Evidently hell hath no fury like a consumer scorned…
True words
And while I’m at it, lots of news in RIAA lawsuits as of late as well - plenty of it not in the RIAA’s favor either - visit http://recordingindustryvspeople.blogspot.com/ for all the latest.
Upcoming Shows
Ginger’s Saturday April 14th 9:30pm $8
Stayner’s Wharf Wednesday March 28th 8:30-11:30pm $8
Recording Updates
From the band:
Also we are currently mixing/mastering our debut album which was recorded live at the Sonic Temple in January - it’s just about finished. May 18th is the tentative day for our release party. More details to follow, but do mark it on your calendars for now.
www.gypsophilia.org
How I Became A Music Pirate
Call it piracy. Call it whatever you want. But at least I tried. I gave you several chances and you failed miserably at every level.
I mean, could you imagine the consumer response if Coke could only be consumed from specific Coke-approved equipment, and then only in the specific ways that the folks at Coke wanted the product to be consumed. “drinking Coke with fast food is no problem, but we must warn you that your license forbids the mixing of Coke with any alcoholic beverages…”
via Digital Audio Insider
Jill Barber definitely has a fan in Kingston. I know this because someone behind B(oot)tlog wrote: I am a fan. We aren’t dealing in rock science here [aside: been meaning to write about the Bon Savants from Boston for months - apparently their signer IS a rock scientist. Or something close].
Anyway, full 25 song set recorded last year.
Check it out.
Today’s posts are just flying into one another. The 80/20 post talked about finding the 20% of fans that make up the majority of your true supporters - those that buy your CDs still and the rest of your merch as well. Realizing that rule can be applied to anything can help with this post’s title.
I am currently learning to be organized - not leaving things to the last minute and the like. Tidy and stuff. It’s …fun. It’s a change, a huge change for me, but it needs to be done. Good thing is, I can already see it paying off.
Thing is I’m still not organized. It’s an ongoing process. I’m trying. It is easy for me to see where I have to focus though by looking at what I’ve neglected as of late. If you are in a band this might be a good exercise for you as well. With writing, practicing, tours, promotional, staying connected with fans and plenty more depending on who does what in the band or if you have a label or management to help. (more…)
In my previous post, Competing with free, I omitted the following points due to length/fit/topic. There’s a long standing business saying that 80% of your profit comes from 20% of your customers.
The rule of 80-20 was first stated in 1906 by Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, so the rule is also known as Pareto’s Principle or Pareto’s Law. Pareto observed that 20% of the Italian population owned 80% of the wealth. [Pareto never actually stated the split always would be or had to be 80/20, simply that was one used first and most frequently] (more…)
The current state of the record industry and the literal free for all of downloading has plenty scrambling and trying to figure out what to do - how to retain some value in recorded music. A recent post on Halifax Locals from a young graphic designer has renewed my own thinking on such matters.
More experienced designers [and other creatives such as photographers] made comments regarding the issue of the new designer advertising such low rates [$10 for a logo!!] devaluing all designers’ work. This is nothing new and an ongoing debate in creative circles.
While I stand by the experienced designers point(s), and I can see the new designer’s perspective [works with young bands, considers himself relatively inexperienced etc.] I am more interested right now in considering what musicians can do to have their music perceived as worth paying [more!] for than others. (more…)
I first mentioned Team Love Records previously just because I heard about their philosophy on free music [they make all tracks from all releases available for free on their sites].
Well it works [kind of]. I have yet to purchase any of their music, but I have become a fan of one act I mentioned before after listening to their album over the past while. When I first wrote about Team Love I only knew about two their acts and I am well on my way to becoming familiar with all of them. Tilly and the Wall is my fav so far though.
I would definitely go see their show if I had the chance, and once I begin spending money freely on music again their CD is definitely a planned purchase.
In the mean time I will continue enjoying Tilly and the Wall.
Especially Brave Days. Will definitely be a much played song this spring/summer.
Or check out the whole thing.
