The RIAA Is Done Suing Individuals

[Uriel]

The industry and its model of greed are what is responsible for destroying art.

No one is saying art is being destroyed.

People who perform music are not inherently "artists" as so many of the MTV generations seem to think.

What does this have to do with the discussion? Its a term being used to define a person who makes music, not an existential judgment being passed.

At the end of the day it is the RIAA who has screwed the performers.

The RIAA does screw the performers in many ways (such as in the percentage of profits they pass along), but that has no relation to the fact that when someone downloads an album instead of paying for it, they are screwing everyone involved in the making of it (the artist who would get a cut, and the label that fronted the money for production).

Art will continue to be produced regardless of whether it is sold for profit at Best Buy.

So lets discourage art as much as possible since we can't completely kill it.

Fuck the fame-hungry performers who think they are artists, and fuck the industries who purport this false premise of celebrity entitlement.

By your description, I'd assume you aren't even interested in the music of people who you categorize this way, free or otherwise. Otherwise, you are ridiculing the integrity and value of person while happily enjoying the fruits of their labor.


Nice manifesto.

[Shooting Love]

No one is saying art is being destroyed.

you did:

America will become the dull, artless place

The RIAA does screw the performers [and consumers] in many ways (such as in the percentage of profits they pass along), but that has no relation to the fact that when someone downloads an album instead of paying for it, they are screwing everyone involved in the making of it (the artist who would get a cut, and the label that fronted the money for production).

what goes around, comes around.
The "artists" are complicit in the screwing. It takes two to tango.

Nice manifesto.

thanks!

[Uriel]

I said it could eventually happen. But my stance isnt based on the idea of art dying, it is simply about people's right to profit from their work. I don't think that the RIAA or piracy is directly affecting the artistic integrity of what is being produced. But yeah, you got me.

[kedawa]

I take issue with people who profit from piracy, and I have no sympathy for them when they are held accountable, but casual piracy isn't as black and white to me.
I still buy stuff, but I pirate a lot of older stuff that I just can't find or that I want to try out first. There are a lot of games that I have purchased that I would have just forgotten about had I not been able to try out the full version for free.

I don't agree with the grim predictions of an artless world should copyright not be strictly upheld.
Album sales aren't the only source of income for musicians, movies make money from box office revenues and broadcast licensing, and for all the bitching of the IDSA, video game piracy isn't really that big of a problem outside of the PC market.
Besides, art predates copyright by tens of thousands of years.

[Nash]

Well that's fine. Maybe my knowledge of the English language isn't as extensive as it needs to be, but I don't see the nuance between commenting on the right/wrong vs. the ethics of it.

Sorry. I meant "we" as in everyone here.

[bbobb]

Watching people who aren't lawyers try to argue law with actual lawyers is hilarious.

[arjue]

Paying $10 for a big label album gives the artist maybe 50c, depending on their deal. I am willing to pay an artist $10, but not willing to pay a big label $9.50. I buy most of the independent and even small-medium label stuff i listen to, but there is no way I'm supporting a group as corrupt and lopsided as the major labels. The RIAA are a constitution breaking, monopolistic, money hungry corrupting force that do real musicians harm. Did you know they wanted to tax cassettes or CD-Rs because they are recordable? Thats fucking ridiculous.

If you want to support your favorite band, buy a shirt or see them in concert. one shirt or ticket will provide them with more money than buying 10 copies of the album would.

[Timber]

If you want to support your favorite band, buy a shirt or see them in concert. one shirt or ticket will provide them with more money than buying 10 copies of the album would.

This.

[B-Ri]

If you want to support your favorite band, buy a shirt or see them in concert. one shirt or ticket will provide them with more money than buying 10 copies of the album would.

[Josh]

I have been on this train for years.