ASCAP tries to Squeeze Apple & iTunes

The music makers are in a quandary. By failing to embrace digital downloads early on, they failed to create a revenue stream on their own terms via the internet and are now dependent on Apple. When they want to increase their revenue stream, they can only do so with the help of a company that only sells music in order to sell iPods and iPhones. They have been trying to get Apple to raise rates and increase royalties, and have failed. So now they are taking their fight to Congress to charge even for previews.

Songwriters, composers, and music publishers are making preparations to one day collect performance fees from Apple and other e-tailers for not just traditional music downloads but for downloads of films and TV shows as well. Those downloads contain music after all.
These groups even want compensation for iTunes' 30-second song samples.
At a time when many iTunes shoppers are still fuming over Apple's first-ever increase in song prices, the demands by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI), and other performing-rights groups, would likely lead to more price hikes at iTunes. For many, this would also undoubtedly confirm their perception that those overseeing the music industry are greedy.

While I appreciate the pressures the Great Recession is having on the music industry, they need to be more careful or they may unwittingly drive customers back to BitTorrents. Creative workers need to be paid, but they also need to be wise.

Human Nature

Be Careful Creators of Content, Copyright is NOT a Right

As a writer, I am very conscious of copyright and the protections it offers to me (even if I am still an unsold writer). Without it, there would be no way to charge for my creative efforts (stories, poems, etc.) and thus no way to compensate me for my work. And without compensation, few people can afford to keep writing, keep singing, keep drawing in a way that reaches the public. Copyright is something societies offer to keep their creative types fed, and thus to foster creativity in general.

Recently, the Computer and Communications Industry Association posted a paper that claimed "fair use" is not a right. "Fair use" is a legal doctrine in the USA that states there are reasonable times to NOT strictly enforce copyright in the interest of the public good. For example, if you purchase a book it is "fair use" to lend it to a friend or to quote a section of that book in an online review. The CCIA is against "fair use" because it offers a potential safe harbor to copyright scofflaws who steal music or fileshare movies on the internet before they have premiered. The CCIA argues "fair use" is not a right and thus can be revoked in the interest of societal good.

The problem wth this reasoning is that "copyright" itself is simply a social construct. A right is something I have inherently, which can not be taken away without force and which my government exists to protect. Copyright on the other hand exists to foster creativity, and can be easily taken away without any changes to our Constitution or even our philosophies if it becomes detrimental to the public. Unlike "Freedom of Speech" or "Freedom of the Press", Copyright could be revoked tomorrow without changing the American idea in any significant way.

Be careful, CCIA. By trying to change copyright and make it all-powerful, you could easily push legislators to a point where they questions its basic utility and consider abolishing it or critically weakening it.

NBC and Apple at War over iTunes

This is insane. NBC - the most successful and profitable of the iTunes Music Store's TV show suppliers - has cancelled their contract with Apple. This means NBC would no longer sell their shows thru the iTMS as of December 31. Their side intimated that Apple was unreasonable in their pricing policies and refused to allow NBC to bundle shows (The Office) with movies (Evan Almighty). Then Apple came back and claimed that the reason for the impasse was that NBC wanted to charge $4.99 per episode for TV shows. Then Apple announced they would not be carrying any of NBC's new shows in the Fall. Thus NBC loses out on the profits from 6 months of selling The Office and Heroes.

Let me be very clear. I am quite perturbed about this. I want the ability to download Heroes this season, but also have an EyeTV device and am NOT afraid to simply record the show, edit out commercials, and transfer them to my AppleTV, iPod, and iPhone at will. NBC, Please do what is necesary to get Heroes back onto the iTMS. And "what is necesary" can NOT be $4.99 per episode. I won't buy ONE episode at that price, especially when I know I can get it on DVD for about $1 per episode in the end.

Sigh. Such foolishness