Criminalizing the Consumer

[Blodrast]

Some of you may be interested in this.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

We have just learned that the RIAA made an ex parte application to a district court in Denver, Colorado -- where the RIAA's lawyers are located -- asking the Judge to rule that no court order is needed in order for an ISP to turn over confidential subscriber information to the RIAA.

The gov't still needs a warrant to get info on you, but the entertainment industry shouldn't need one... Does that answer your question on distrust, Greg ?

[Gawain of Orkeny]

Would anyone like a copy of Spiderman 3?

Their about already.

But to me their crying over nothing the greedy bastards. Like their not making enough money?

I know we've been over this repeatedly in the past; but just to level out the discussion, I'll re-point out that the original content maker (writer, musician, filmer, coder) ought to be compensated for his/her effort.

Dont they get paid up front by their record company? After that they get a percentage of the sales but its really small.

I work for CD distributer and were hurting bad. Everyones going to IPODs and MP3s. Who wants to lug a cd player and a ton of CDs around with you? I would suppose the artists also get a percentage of the download money.

As long as people dont set up factories like here in NYC to produce these things I dont think they should worry about individual people copying things.

[JimBob]

Dont they get paid up front by their record company? After that they get a percentage of the sales but its really small.

The advance usually needs to be paid back to the company. Say you get a $1 million advance. Your album sells x copies for y profit. You get z% (minus a,b,c,d,e for travel, a&r costs, production, etc).

The Problem with Music

Label Contracts

People don't trust the music industry because it has stagnated and not produced music recently. Ever since the punks proved that new and vibrant music could be made without the help of the big 5 bands have been drifting away from them. The internet and computer technology have made the big 5 obsolete, they just don't know it yet. Bands can now record, promote, distribute, and tour without some a&r man to tell them what to do.

[Papewaio]

I think the entertainment industry can be rightly accused of acting as a cabal in setting prices around the world. Introducing so-called protection mechanisms to artificially inflate costs. DVD regions for instance is purely a mechanism to gouge the consumers and stifle free trade.

[Xiahou]

I think the entertainment industry can be rightly accused of acting as a cabal in setting prices around the world. Introducing so-called protection mechanisms to artificially inflate costs. DVD regions for instance is purely a mechanism to gouge the consumers and stifle free trade.

Quoted for truth.

Yes, the artists should be fairly compensated for their work. But is that what happens under the current system? My understanding is that the studios take the lionshare of the money for themselves and only give the artists a small percentage. Maybe that made sense in the good ole'days, but today with the many marketing and distribution avenues available, it's starting to seem like they're screwing the artists (and consumers) just to line their own pockets.

[Spetulhu]

I think the entertainment industry can be rightly accused of acting as a cabal in setting prices around the world. Introducing so-called protection mechanisms to artificially inflate costs. DVD regions for instance is purely a mechanism to gouge the consumers and stifle free trade.

Quite true. CDs are incredibly expensive here. So expensive in fact that it is often cheaper to order direct from the US even with postage and import tax!