Obama Sides With RIAA
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Obama Sides With RIAA
Obama Sides With RIAA, Supports $150,000 Fine per Music Track
What a shocker. 
The Obama administration for the first time is weighing in on a Recording Industry Association of America file sharing lawsuit and is supporting hefty awards of as much as $150,000 per purloined music track.
The government said the damages range of $750 to $150,000 per violation of the Copyright Act was warranted.
"The remedy of statutory damages for copyright infringement has been the cornerstone of our federal copyright law since 1790, and Congress acted reasonably in crafting the current incarnation of the statutory damages provision," Michelle Bennett, a Department of Justice trial attorney wrote (.pdf) Sunday to a Massachusetts federal judge weighing challenge to the Copyright Act.
The position -- that the Copyright Act's monetary damages are not unconstitutionally excessive -- mirrors the one taken by the Bush administration and should come as no surprise.
Two top lawyers in President Barack Obama's Justice Department are former RIAA lawyers: Donald Verrilli Jr. is the associate deputy attorney general who brought down Grokster and fought to prevent a retrial in the Jammie Thomas case. Then there's the No. 2 in the DOJ, Tom Perrilli. As Verrilli's former boss, Perrilli argued in 2002 that internet service providers should release customer information to the RIAA even without a court subpoena.
The government said the damages range of $750 to $150,000 per violation of the Copyright Act was warranted.
"The remedy of statutory damages for copyright infringement has been the cornerstone of our federal copyright law since 1790, and Congress acted reasonably in crafting the current incarnation of the statutory damages provision," Michelle Bennett, a Department of Justice trial attorney wrote (.pdf) Sunday to a Massachusetts federal judge weighing challenge to the Copyright Act.
The position -- that the Copyright Act's monetary damages are not unconstitutionally excessive -- mirrors the one taken by the Bush administration and should come as no surprise.
Two top lawyers in President Barack Obama's Justice Department are former RIAA lawyers: Donald Verrilli Jr. is the associate deputy attorney general who brought down Grokster and fought to prevent a retrial in the Jammie Thomas case. Then there's the No. 2 in the DOJ, Tom Perrilli. As Verrilli's former boss, Perrilli argued in 2002 that internet service providers should release customer information to the RIAA even without a court subpoena.
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People have the right to protect their creations and property, sure. However, there is such a thing as harassment, which the RIAA is well known for doing. Search Google for "RIAA abuse" and inform yourselves.
All that aside, the real issue is the appointing of corporate lapdogs to top government positions. For Bush, it was oil executives, for Obama it seems that the only difference is what industry he is beholden to.
All that aside, the real issue is the appointing of corporate lapdogs to top government positions. For Bush, it was oil executives, for Obama it seems that the only difference is what industry he is beholden to.
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Besides; do you know how much the artist actually gets from a CD sale? Pennies on the dollar friend, pennies on the dollar.
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Um most artists make a vast majority of their money when they tour - and the more people who hear your music - the more tickets you are going to sell.
Besides; do you know how much the artist actually gets from a CD sale? Pennies on the dollar friend, pennies on the dollar.
Besides; do you know how much the artist actually gets from a CD sale? Pennies on the dollar friend, pennies on the dollar.
also, most artists get about 1-10c per song on a traditional cd, iirc its about 60c per album at the top end and 10 cents at the low.
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Yeah, I have no problem with artists getting paid for their works but the RIAA and the MPAA operate like the gestapo with their tactics for going after people and violating privacy.
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if you want to support the artists, donate on their website or buy merchandise at concerts. The CDs are all profit for the record companies.
more and more artists will be ditching the labels and start releasing on their own now. Radiohead has started the movement and others will follow.
more and more artists will be ditching the labels and start releasing on their own now. Radiohead has started the movement and others will follow.
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if you want to support the artists, donate on their website or buy merchandise at concerts. The CDs are all profit for the record companies.
more and more artists will be ditching the labels and start releasing on their own now. Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails has started the movement and others will follow.
more and more artists will be ditching the labels and start releasing on their own now. Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails has started the movement and others will follow.
Trent Reznor has been publicly humiliating the record companies for many, many years.