CDN Supreme Court Rules that ISP's not liable for music downloading

[devilmaster]

http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2004/06/30/canada/isp040630


OTTAWA - Internet service providers are not responsible for paying royalties on music downloaded by users, Canada's Supreme Court ruled Wednesday.

In a unanimous 9-0 decision, the court ruled that although ISPs provide the hardware and technology, they aren't responsible for what people download.

Thank God for this. Whether or not you download music, you would have had to pay for it, through higher ISP costs.

It seems more and more like the record companies will sue just about anybody to ensure they keep getting money. I think the companies are definitely threatened. The internet is making them obsolete. There will always be artists because creative people create. And soon, they will not need a record company to sell their wares. The internet cuts out the middleman.

Steve

[Brickman]

http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2004/06/30/canada/isp040630



Thank God for this. Whether or not you download music, you would have had to pay for it, through higher ISP costs.

It seems more and more like the record companies will sue just about anybody to ensure they keep getting money. I think the companies are definitely threatened. The internet is making them obsolete. There will always be artists because creative people create. And soon, they will not need a record company to sell their wares. The internet cuts out the middleman.

Steve

So how does the artist get paid? If there is no profit for record companies there will be no money for artists.

[RichK]

Harvard Study (http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2004/04.15/09-filesharing.html)

Interesting study that cannot correlate loss of record sales to filesharing/downloading.

Maybe the loss of sales is due to crappy music?

[devilmaster]

So how does the artist get paid? If there is no profit for record companies there will be no money for artists.

The cynic in me Brick, knows you know better. Naturally, I will assume that you are just asking this to stir the s**t. But i'll be nice and take your question at face value......

Being a folkie and having alot of friends who are also, many of them make a decent if not a good living with their music. These artists also do that without any major record company, mostly because folk isn't mainstream. It requires them to work harder at selling their own wares, but they do it.

There are many who make it without any major label and make money on their music. They put together a group of songs, find a small recording studio, pay their own time, cover the costs of their own CD and sell their CD. In essence, they become their own label. If I want to buy their CD, I buy their CD direct from them. That ensures they get the most money, instead of a record store purchase. By learning where to go find this music, I can peruse what I perceive is the music I like out there, and purchase it, either through a website by the artist or a website by a community that sells that type of music.

I personally have no problem buying a 20 dollar cdn CD from an artist. If I like their music and i'm buying from them direct, I know that I've paid the money to someone who truly deserves it, not to some corporation.

Making and selling your own CD is not new. People have been doing this for years, and will continue to do it. It doesn't have to be folk, either. It can be any type of music.

Steve

[FTG]

So how do your folky friends make money if someone puts their CD on the Internet and everyone else listens to it for free?

Or are your friends so folky that they like to lose money?

[nrc]

Maybe the loss of sales is due to crappy music?

The trouble with that theory is that crappy music sells.

[nrc]

So how do your folky friends make money if someone puts their CD on the Internet and everyone else listens to it for free?

They make it up on volume.

[RichK]

The trouble with that theory is that crappy music sells.

True!

But my opinion is that crappy music sells to teenagers, and those of us older folk with more income have stopped/slowed down buying CDs. I think I've stopped buying them because either:

A) I'm getting old & there just aren't bands like Warrant and Poison anymore. (just kidding - I'm into independent type stuff, which leads to: )

B) F***ing ClearChannel scooping up all my favorite radio stations and playing the same songs on all of them. My radio stations used to have things like "New Music Hour" on Sunday nights, and I'd find lots of indie bands that way. It's hard to find new music that I like without gambling on a $20 CD. Filesharing is a way for me to test the waters first.

[Wabbit]

Harvard Study (http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2004/04.15/09-filesharing.html)

Interesting study that cannot correlate loss of record sales to filesharing/downloading.

Maybe the loss of sales is due to crappy music?

I'll second that.

The music coming out now isn't even worth the time to download.

[Dave99]

Online peer-to-peer file sharing only takes money out of the artist and, more-so, the record company's profit margin providing the user would otherwise buy the $20 CD in a record store.

If people do not want to buy the CD how are you going to stop them? People will always find a way to copy music for free or at a discounted price from libraries, CD Clubs, co-workers, siblings, neighbors or racing buddies-oops! ;) .

Honestly, I'll never understand why anyone would want to download an entire CD of compromised sound quality when you can get 16/24 bit sound AND the artwork/lyrics sheet for an hour or so's work's pay.

I guess with today's kids' "plug and play" mentality they don't care about all that "other stuff". They just want another file in their MP3 playlist.

Maybe that's why the record company's price their product so high, to make up for the percieved loss due to downloading. Like insurance companies who adjust their rates to compensate for losses due to fraud.

[nz_climber]

File sharing is great :D The fact is record companies and artists have made money out of me downloading music - because more often than not I'll like the music and pick up the full cd next time I see it! :thumbup:

[Brickman]

The cynic in me Brick, knows you know better. Naturally, I will assume that you are just asking this to stir the s**t. But i'll be nice and take your question at face value......

Being a folkie and having alot of friends who are also, many of them make a decent if not a good living with their music. These artists also do that without any major record company, mostly because folk isn't mainstream. It requires them to work harder at selling their own wares, but they do it.

There are many who make it without any major label and make money on their music. They put together a group of songs, find a small recording studio, pay their own time, cover the costs of their own CD and sell their CD. In essence, they become their own label. If I want to buy their CD, I buy their CD direct from them. That ensures they get the most money, instead of a record store purchase. By learning where to go find this music, I can peruse what I perceive is the music I like out there, and purchase it, either through a website by the artist or a website by a community that sells that type of music.

I personally have no problem buying a 20 dollar cdn CD from an artist. If I like their music and i'm buying from them direct, I know that I've paid the money to someone who truly deserves it, not to some corporation.

Making and selling your own CD is not new. People have been doing this for years, and will continue to do it. It doesn't have to be folk, either. It can be any type of music.

Steve

No I just think that music is driven by the dollar, sure in some cases people write to just express themselves and be creative. But I would guess that every musicion would like to break into the big leagues and make some serious dough. It's kinda like racing. File sharing free music pays the artist nothing. Without the record companies they would have to make their money on the road.

IMHO