By: MikeBlogs
Illegal music piracy on the web is not going to stop anytime soon, if ever. You can argue for and against but the reality is, that unless we convert into Chinese censorship conditions the music business has to forget its claim of conventional copyright and adapt to this new truth.
Its not creative to steal
I don´t agree with Lawrence Lessig that you can compare file-sharing on the web with what he calls "Walt Disney creativity" where an artist use an existing cultural item and add some of his or her own creativity to it. In file-sharing nothing is added it is just being copied, and if the product is protected by a copyright it is somehow stealing.
This makes most of us multi-times criminals one could claim, but when the risk of getting caught is close to zero, even though it happens once in a while to heavy downloaders, and everybody is doing the same the trend will continue.
I don´t agree with Lawrence Lessig that you can compare file-sharing on the web with what he calls "Walt Disney creativity" where an artist use an existing cultural item and add some of his or her own creativity to it. In file-sharing nothing is added it is just being copied, and if the product is protected by a copyright it is somehow stealing.
This makes most of us multi-times criminals one could claim, but when the risk of getting caught is close to zero, even though it happens once in a while to heavy downloaders, and everybody is doing the same the trend will continue.
Stiff companies clinging to the past
Even though this "stealing" may contribute to some indirect value for the music industry, I´m not doubting that illegal downloading has cost the record companies and artists a lot of money. Figures from January 2009 show that 95 percent of all music downloads are sourced unlawfully, but at the same time they also show that online music sale is increasing, and its here the industry has to step up.
The physical music business is a dying species, maybe exept of vinyl records, and it has been for some years now. I don´t remember when I last bought a record, but I know that I downloaded yesterday and the day before, while my poor cd-collection is covered with a layer of dust in my closet.
Moral lectures doesn´t work, quality does
Lawrence Lessig talks about balancing this new way of online distribution to benefit both consumers and the business, but he doesn´t give an answer to how it should be done.
Right now the industry still struggles with facing the fact that illegal downloading cannot be controlled and that moral campaigns are useless. Instead they should be converting even more into online sale and improving it with a price and quality which can be a serious competitor to illegal downloading. It seems as the more restrictions the companies put on their music the more consumers run away. To use an old phrase "if you can´t beat them, join them".
Lc
Lawrence Lessig talks about balancing this new way of online distribution to benefit both consumers and the business, but he doesn´t give an answer to how it should be done.
Right now the industry still struggles with facing the fact that illegal downloading cannot be controlled and that moral campaigns are useless. Instead they should be converting even more into online sale and improving it with a price and quality which can be a serious competitor to illegal downloading. It seems as the more restrictions the companies put on their music the more consumers run away. To use an old phrase "if you can´t beat them, join them".
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