Tapeitofftheinternet.com – Oh. My. God. A while back (2 years ago?) I wrote a column about what would happen when BitTorrent was married with RSS. It happened. I’ve also written about how social software will eventually have a real application when married with a real interest, like music or films. It looks like Tapeitofftheinternet.com is about to bring all of these elements together. Look out broadcast TV. Here we come.
[Copyright conference coverage]: Alexander Ross Partner, Wiggin: Thanks to EU copyright directive there has to be a levy system. Fair compensation is all it allows for – which might be zero. If we introduced a private copy exemption into the Uk we’d have to create a levy system. Any private copy must take account for DRM, which is odd. One way of getting money back from iPods? Supporters say the
Pete Jenner (former manager of Pink Floyd) on why Podcasting is cool: “Podcasting feels like FM radio did in the 60s.” (Jenner is the second speaker).
[Copyright conference coverage] Steve Greenfield, Snr Lecturer in Law, Univ. Westminster (pictured, standing), said: “Consumers will NOT comply when you try to restrict what they do to consumer content. Eleven years olds now interact with the music industry in a completely different way. The Arctic Monkeys are a great example of how this is working.�
[Copyright conference coverage]: Peter Jenner, of Sincere Management, one time manager of Pink Floyd and now Billy Bragg, said we all “need” copyright. But there are differences between the creator and the investor. “The creator is often used as the fig leaf for the investors greed.” Very few artists get royalties – “I’m unhappy with the way the total amount of money that comes into the industry, a small amount
[Copyright conference coverage] Fran Nevrkla, chairman & CEO, PPL, said the comfort of academia is publically funded – and debate over copyright comes down to income for performers (PPL represents 30,000 members). “One day I’ll read out a letter from one of our performers – not George Michael – at December that 1,000 quid cheque meant my family can have a Christmas.”
[Copyright conference coverage]: David Stopps, council member, FML and MMF, said if copyright expired when a singer was in 67 (50 years after their hit record when they were 17) then she would be more reliant on the state in her dotage, and unable to draw monies from her works.
[Copyright conference coverage] Rufus Pollock, director & co-founder of The Open Knowledge Foundation said extending copryight does not bring Elvis from the grave to create more works. “When we increase the amount you pay for older works, you reduce the amount spent on new ones.” Secondly, extension of copyright does not act as an incentive for archive holders to release it for new artists to use and re-use.
[Copyright conference coverage] Cory Doctorow, European Affairs Co-ordinator, Electronic Frontier Foundation, said the lessen from history is that “technology giveth and technology taketh away” and to succeed in this new world you need to work with technology. “I now sell more books even though my book is released online on the same day it comes out in print… Every time someone comes up against DRM, they defect, so we should
[Copyright conference coverage] Peter Jamieson: He painted a picture ten years from now where there a many different copies and versions of old songs circulating, of varying quality. Why? Because companies that can’t own their catalogues can’t afford to chase copyright infringement.