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Piracy in Music Industry
Piracy in Music Industry
What are the legal issues with napster
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Napster
A battle is being fought over how we access our music. Technology has greatly
changed the days of going to the record store to purchase music. Now we are able to link to
millions of music lovers around the world by hopping on our computers, getting on the interenet
and by using a file-sharing program called Napster. Now many questions arise: Is it stealing
from the artists or is it stealing from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)? It
also brings about the questions of how "free" the internet should be. Where do we even begin
to regulate this giant beast called the World Wide Web?
The way this technology works is it allows internet users to share and download MP3
files directly from any computer connected to the Napster network. The software is used by
downloading a client program from the Napster site and then connecting to the network through
this software, which allows sharing (uploading and downloading) of MP3 files between all users
connected to the network. While Napster does not condone copyright infringement, there is no
opportunity in the software to stop this, or for royalties to be paid to artists whose songs are
being duplicated for free.
Unlike similar file-sharing applications (Gnutella, Freenet), Napster limits users to
uploading/downloading of MP3 files only. These files are compressed wave (.wav) files. The
advantage of MP3 files is that they are approximately one-tenth the size of the corresponding
.wav file and can be close-to-CD-quality. It is for this reason that many artists, record labels
and other music industry stakeholders are concerned by the MP3 file format and applications
like Napster that simplify the sharing of copyrighted material.
According to www.news.com, the RIAA is stating that napster allows approximately
sixty-four million users around the world to steal music from the artists who created it. Yes, it is
true that napster allows millions of users to download songs for absolutely free; however, isn't
this what the artist want from there music? Don't they want their music to be heard
worldwide? Most of all, don't they want their music to be distributed for free so they don't
have to pay out so much money to the record companies?
I understand if the artist is worried about not making any money from their album,
especially since they spend most of their record deal money to not only record their album, but
Simply put; All things are good until man makes it otherwise. And by using Burke's "lens" we can look at the internet use of Napster and see how different people have found different views of it and how now some people deem Napster as bad or in a negative lens they see Napster. The Napster software, launched early in 1999, allows internet users to share and download MP3 files directly from any computer connected to the Napster network. The software is used by downloading a client program from the Napster site and then connecting to the network through this software, which allows sharing of MP3 files between all users connected to the network.
Napster was the pinnacle of this combination of recording technology and the internet. Napster was an internet company that launched in 1999 and focused on music streaming and music downloading. At the time Napster was the only real web company looking at the industry of music streaming and music downloads and as a result , Napster saw tremendous success in the first few years of its life and taking the crown as the fastest growing business ever , a record still unbeaten today. Napster’s focus with regards to peer-to-peer music sharing was ease of accessibility and speed , and in both areas they excelled. Napster made peer to peer music sharing easier than anyone had previously thought possible with the introduction of their massive online music market place in which people could share any type of free mp3 into one mainstream directory. However much like streaming services that push the envelope of accessibility Napster ran into several problems along the way and faced heavy opposition.
According to the text A Gift of Fire, Napster “opened on the Web in 1999 as a service that allowed its users to copy songs in MP3 files from the hard disks of other users” (Baase, 2013, p. 192, Section 4.1.6 Sharing Music: The Napster Case). Napster was, however, “copying and distributing most of the songs they traded without authorization” (A Gift of Fire, Section 4.1.6 Sharing Music: The Napster Case). This unauthorized file sharing resulted in a lawsuit - “eighteen record companies sued for contributory infringement claiming that Napster users were blatantly infringing copyrights by digitally reproducing and distributing music without a license” (Communications Law: Liberties, Restraints and the Modern Media, 2011, p. 359).
Over time the form in which we listen to our music has drastically evolved. Going from vinyl records, to tapes, to CDs, to mp3 downloads, and most recently instant streaming. Although technology becoming more advanced has helped our society to grow, the music industry has found it difficult to grow and advance with the change while still being profitable. Starting with tapes people would share their music, making mixed tapes for their friends or family. This continued when artists started putting their albums onto CD’s. It was easy for anyone to get a great new album for free as long as they had one copy of the album. This is called pirating music, it is violating an artist's rights which are secured by a copyright (the free dictionary). Pirating
However, he has grown to accept, in his opinion, the inevitability of music piracy. The superstar believes, “People can pirate CD's and download forever. What they can't pirate or copy is the real thing on stage.” A U S T R A L I A ’ S music industry is currently struggling within its bonds; fighting to produce successful artists and return its financial expenditure to the rightful contributors.
Also, mobile telecommunication companies are penetrating the music industry. For instance, they check the artist’s popularity
The music industry is known to be one of the most cutthroat industries in today’s time. With physical copies of music becoming more and more ostracized, digital music streaming services have increased in popularity and usage over the past few years. Musicians can now get their music out into the world more effectively through these streaming services including Spotify, Youtube, and Apple Music. In the past few years, Spotify has gained much criticism in regards to the ways the company pays musicians. However, as Spotify continues to make millions, other companies such as Apple have set a target on them.
Back in the early 1980’s, record labels controlled what people could hear through airplay, record distribution and manufacturing, and selective promotion of music based on their judgement of their audience. An artist’s only feasible option was to go through this system. To obtain music of high quality, people had to buy vinyl singles or albums or tape, and later, only CDs. There was no practical way to listen to music before buying it without listening to or taping off the radio. Music was very restricted by several different record companies.
Music on the Internet is another big issue among consumers and the artists that compose them. Napster was the biggest site for downloading mp3’s, but was shutdown because of a big push by the rock group Metallica.
However, this was short-lived as the lawsuit became expensive and the labels suffered criticism from the public because of these legal suits (Tyler, 2014). Since, music companies have kept the same business model to demand more revenue and royalties, leading to more independent artists. According to the RIAA, the industry loses about 13 billion in output (in the United States) from music
For example Beyonce’s album Lemonade was “2016’s third biggest album” (Billboard) and it was only available on itunes. Artist are making it available only on certain places because, although they love making music it is not fair to them when they are not making the money they deserve to be making. Musician Joe Elliott gives more of an explanation of how he feels when someone is stealing his songs, “somebody taking our music for free is no different than walking out of someone's house with their tv set” (Ian) these artist are making music to entertain people all over the world but the listeners are not giving anything in return by stealing their music. As this continues to happen, people still steal, no seems to care this could hurt the artist career. Jans Ian explains, “that the industry (and its artists) are being harmed by free downloading” , this could and is hurting some artist because they are not making the money they are suppose to
Through the Copyright Act, the creator is given exclusive rights which encompass credit until after 70 years from death and the option of distribution. In peer-to-peer sharing and free downloads where music is used commercially in the internet, copyright is violated. In fact, as the shown in the statistics above, copyright infringement is practiced by millions in just one day. Probably, these people do not know and fully understand the laws and the penalties such as fines and imprisonment if they commit copyright infringement.
“Production companies should lower the price on their products, I can’t buy music for at least 20$ per album and DVDs for 30$, I only make 200$ per month,” said George Issa a music fan who spends most of his nights downloading music from the internet, “when there is an album or movie that I really like, I try to buy it legally, I don’t think I am doing anything wrong, they are wrong
The music industry started in the mid 18th century with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Through the decades there has been a great increase in this industry; however, the revenues for this industry have declined by half in the last 10 years. This has been caused by music piracy, which “is the copying and distributing of copies of a piece of music for which the composer, recording artist, or copyright-holding record company did not give consent” . After 1980’s, when the Internet was released to public, people started to develop programs and websites in which they could share music, videos, and information with...