June 17, 2008
NYU Film Portrays Recording Industry as Browbeater
The Recording Industry Association of America is likened to a thug in this video produced by Gabriel de Urioste, of the Free Culture chapter at New York University. He made the silent black and white video for one of his film classes at the university to express his view that the industry group’s tactic of suing people who download music off the Internet is heavy-handed.
Mr. de Urioste posted the video to YouTube last week. —Andrea L. Foster
Posted on Tuesday June 17, 2008 | Permalink |Comments
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I don’t recall any incidents of industry attorneys or artists breaking down doors in the dead of night and dragging unsuspecting teens from their homes. Perhaps I missed some of the coverage when I was out of the country.
The bottom line is that downloading music without permission is a violation of copyright. And it has led to economic loss in the industry. Certainly, based on the way people now share information and technological changes, there can and perhaps should be a new set of rules (reflected contractually). However, new rules do not yet exist. Artists and the people in the industry who help to bring us music, film, etc . . deserve to be paid what the market will bear. For artists, such as Mr. de Urioste, who choose to freely distribute their work, great. But, at least for now, copyrights still protect the makers (or other copyright owners) of music from losing potential earnings. Lawsuits are the obvious remedy when copyright is infringed. Perhaps the discussion fomented by groups such as Free Culture will help us define a new way, if that truly is where we are headed.
— Bronwyn Jun 18, 12:19 PM #