More silliness from the RIAA, according to Ars Technica. Jennifer Pariser, the head of litigation for Sony BMG, was called to testify in the case of Capitol Records, et al v. Jammie Thomas.
She thinks making even one copy of music you own is “stealing.” Like, for example, ripping CDs for your Mp3 player. Or downloading songs you already own.
Pariser has a very broad definition of “stealing.” When questioned by Richard Gabriel, lead counsel for the record labels, Pariser suggested that what millions of music fans do is actually theft. The dirty deed? Ripping your own CDs or downloading songs you already own.
Gabriel asked if it was wrong for consumers to make copies of music which they have purchased, even just one copy. Pariser replied, “When an individual makes a copy of a song for himself, I suppose we can say he stole a song.” Making “a copy” of a purchased song is just “a nice way of saying ‘steals just one copy’,” she said.
We feel this statement is going to make Jennifer extremely popular on the internet. Yay!
Sony BMG’s chief anti-piracy lawyer: “Copying” music you own is “stealing” [Ars Technica] (Thanks, Theron!)
(Photo:Getty)
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@reykjavik: Are your friends really included? I thought it was self only. That would make the whole internet piracy argument moot.
Haven’t bought a CD in years. Don’t plan on starting again. On of the advantages of really hating almost all modern music, I suppose.
@IRSistherootofallevil: I think 90% of lawyers fall under that category….
Oh well, GO INDIE MUSIC. I found great alternatives to those other ones.
Is it legal to listen to the cd’s you buy with your friends? Or do you have to make sure no one else can hear it?
Better be careful ThePounder, before they have you paying royalties for quoting song lyrics…lol
BY THEPOUNDER AT 04:37 PM
This sh!t is bananas, b-a-n-a-n-a-s.
Sorry, nothing further to add. This subject is far too ridiculous for me to address lucidly.
Say I buy a CD in stores for a certain amount of money, enjoy it for a number of months before breaking the CD, losing it, having it get stolen, etc. Because I bought limited rights of listenership to the cd, can I go and just grab one of the shelf at no charge? I did pay for a copy of the CD. Of course, allowing me to burn my own CDs ‘legally’ eliminates this problem. Go die in a hole, RIAA.
Perhaps Jennifer Pariser should contact the Sony marketing department and direct them to have this statement printed on every CD they sell.
“When an individual makes a copy of a song for himself, I suppose we can say he stole a song.” Making “a copy” of a purchased song is just “a nice way of saying ‘steals just one copy’,”
Put your mouth where your money is instead of shooting it off in court.
DEXTRONE: Then maybe we should disbar 90% of the lawyers in this country.
The NYSBA should sue her for disgracing the bar association and the legal profession.
The ironing is delicious in light of the Betamax case, aka Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios, 464 U.S. 417 (1984)
@marsneedsrabbits: The ironing is delicious? I smell a new meme being born…
Is it just me or does anyone feel sorry for Jennifer. She is catching a lot of negative net attention for this.
Of course, if she had morals, she’d quit working for a company like that, but then again, if she had morals would she be a lawyer?
@jeremyduffy: Quite frankly, if you go on stand and say that, your responsible for what you say. No, I don’t feel sorry for her, she fuckin said it. Not my damn problem.
And in response to your question: No.
Based on her comments, do you not think that Sony Corporation would have to stop making Mp3 players, since they are creating the tools for the crime they accuse us all of? If that is the case, shouldn’t the RIAA go after the makers of these products that steal their songs?
We should be making a betting pool as to how long this moron is kept on the case.
The Record industry need look no further than themselves for the decline in record sales. I don’t pirate music or software, and I haven’t bought a CD in probably a year. I have DRM music on my new computer I can’t play because I haven’t “authorized it” or installed the proper software to play it. I have CD’s laying around that won’t play on certain devices in my house/car. The price keeps going up, but the convenience goes down. A downloaded CD should cost like $5 at this point, yet prices keep on creeping up to $11-$15. They don’t have to print anything, cut the disk or ship it…it should be cheap. Just forget it lol…they can put themseleves out of business if they want.
@darkclawsofchaos:
It depends:
[en.wikipedia.org]
@darkclawsofchaos: Depends on where the apple came from:
[en.wikipedia.org]
Crap.. sorry ’bout the double post
@magic8ball: Yes there was: [consumerist.com]
@adamondi: I haven’t bought any music in years now. I don’t illegally download anything either. If I can’t somehow get to it for free I don’t listen to it. Most of what I have now is stuff from Overclocked Remix. (I really need to check out some independent music though because I miss music with singing in it.)
the record companies have actually LOST money on their lawsuits overall.
@supra606: That is SO awesome! That makes my day in fact.
@jeremyduffy: Why should I feel sorry for her? If I kick a puppy would you feel sorry for me after people yelled at me for it?
Joafu: I really want someone to try this. I want it to go to court so their “you don’t really own it” argument can get thrown in their face.
@Techguy1138: I’m guessing that you don’t know a whole lot about how the music industry works. Here’s a brief rundown, but if you’re really interested pick up the books written by a person going by the name of “Moses Avalon” to get an insider’s perspective on how artists get screwed.
All but the most established artists typically make next to nothing off of album sales. The advances they get are loans that are used to not only provide some money to live off of but also to pay for recording costs, which include fees paid to the producer and engineers. Artists don’t see another dime from record sales until the label has recouped all costs, including the advance, from record sales. Artists do get statutory mechanical royaties and royalties from performances (collected via their publisher and organizations such as ASCAP) but other than the mechanical royalties, those revenue streams are separate from the album sales. Mechanical royalties are paid based on each CD manufactured, not each CD sold. I have no idea how MP3 sales are counted in this, but considering the screw the artist nature of most recording companies I imagine that either the artists aren’t getting a thing or they are only getting paid for downloads.
Also, the CD costs aren’t cheap and that $15 or whatever price tag has a lot more to do with price fixing than actual cost to produce and promote, etc… In fact, several record labels were sued for anti-trust violations a few years ago and they ultimately settled with several state AG’s, giving consumers some paltry refund if they merely said they had bought CD’s between a certain period of time. I think the ‘refund’ was around $22 per claimant.
I stand by my c-word. You are what you eat, you sow what you reap, or something like that.
I’m so tired of having to be nice to people that don’t deserve it.
@nickripley:
Fine, but you might want to know that, in addition to offending the lawyer, your c-bomb also offended a lot of your fellow commenters (who flagged that comment).
The flagged reports don’t have a place for the flaggers to add messages, so I can only offer my personal opinion: I don’t care about the profanity, but in this context I thought it was unnecessary and classless, and that it didn’t do anything to bolster your position.
This is pure insanity. Quick does she know people can listen to music by taking CDs out at the library?! Guess they’re ripping off Sony.
Record labels can either innovate or go the way of the dinosaurs
It expressed my opinion of Jennifer Pariser to Jennifer Pariser, which was my only intention.
If I were to express my opinion to her, it would be so harsh that it might make her soulless ass cry. But then, I’d love to see her sitting in the corner of her office crying her eyes out.
@novelgirl: Oh my God, now you’ve done it. I’ve wondered for years why I am allowed to take books home with me and read them, remember them, and directly or indirectly refer to knowledge gained from them – sometimes even directly quoting them (with proper citation when written though) – without violating the author’s or publisher’s rights under copyright law.
@girly: A great question! Ask a church that got nasty messages from the NFL about showing the Super Bowl in the church. I’m betting there is a definite limit to how many people can listen at the same time without requiring a Public Performance License from ASCAP/BMI.
This Jennifer chick’s (is that what you guys meant by c-word?) statements are astounding because they make perfectly clear that NOBODY can understand the freaking copyright laws (as do many questions posted here, like girly’s for example). If they can’t be understood, they can’t be followed, they can’t be enforced. Fix the laws or get rid of them because these are currently just doing what most laws do – keeping lawyers’ kids in better schools than yours.
@nickripley: “It expressed my opinion of Jennifer Pariser to Jennifer Pariser, which was my only intention.”
Until you posted it here. Accept. Let go. Move on.
After thought I’ll retract what I was going to say.
It included walls, shooting, and things shoved up where the sun doesn’t shine.
God damn record industry.
Well damn.
Who the *bleep* was on the jury?
@Rectilinear Propagation: Wives of the RIAA management team.
Here’s a perfect example of a company fighting itself. Sony BMG (label) wants to sell you the right to listen to “their” music (once or twice) vs. Sony (equipment manufacturer) wants to cash in on the digital music generation with CD ripping (tech speak for COPYING)software, download websites and consumer media recorders. You can’t have your cake and eat it too. If you don’t want people digitizing media, then DON’T make the software & hardware with that purpose. And,in turn, If you DO want people to use YOUR products to digitize media, then don’t try and sue them for it.
sorry for the multi-posts: So are we supposed to believe that the bluray burners they are now trying to shove down our throats is for burning excell files and word documents?
The one thing I find thats wrong with the defenders of “licensing” the music you “buy” is this. If I break a CD or it gets scratched beyond playability am I able to contact the recording label and get another copy? For the “licensed” material I paid for? If I’m paying for an intangible object that is being delivered to me on something that has no worth (disc, box, etc) shouldn’t we be entitled to this?