Moses Supposes – November 2006
Sort of like music biz news, but a lot funnier and more honest.
In this issue:
-- RIAA may have to expose secret files to pursue pirates.
-- Universal sues MySpace again? What up?
-- Is there life after Tower? Is that writing on the wall or bird droppings?
-- Dee Snider: the New Feminist Cause Celeb?
RIAA LAWSUITS HIT BRICK WALL.
File Sharer Fights Back. Threatens
to Expose Their Dirty Secrets.
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Last year Marie Lindor, a Brooklyn health-care worker, received a Christmas card from the RIAA. Like thousands before her this one was a demand letter for roughly $750,000. The reason: accidental copyright infringement. An actionable offense that carries with it a fine of $5000 in statutory damages per infringement and 12 hours community service giving rappers singing lessons.
Lindor was sued last January along with nearly 1,000 others for stealing music off the internet. But this New York gal has decided to do something no one else has as of yet; she's fighting back. She has asked the court to require the RIAA to open up their secret files and reveal the method of exactly how they find targets for their suits. This motion could require the mysterious cyber cop service, MediaSentry, to reveal the nature their relationship with the RIAA. MediaSentry claims to use a secret mojo that traces IP addresses on P2P networks and harvests personal computer information. They pipeline this to the RIAA as potential targets for infringement suits.
Lindor's attorney is Ray Beckerman , a partner at New York-based Vandenberg & Feliu. Beckerman claims that Lindor has never "used or even turned on a computer in her life."
"Oh really," alleges the RIAA, "then how come she maintains a broadband account and a screen name that matched hers. Don't tell me she just happens to have that because she subscribes to cable TV."
Yes, actually. Like thousands of others who've ordered Cable TV, she gets a bundled email and broadband account whether they have a computer or not. MediaSentry could have uncovered this fact using such sophisticated hi-tech methods like-- going through her trash. Regardless, the RIAA is convinced that this is their smoking gun. "Despite the rhetoric of neo-liberals, music does not belong to 'the people,'" they said while foaming at the mouth, "It belongs to the labels. The sixties is over, dude. Get real."
If the case reaches a jury it would be the first one of the RIAA's 18,000 claims against infringers to be put to the test. So far 5,000 have settled. If Lindor wins it could derail the other 14,000 cases still pending. This would likely inspire a resurrection of the rampant theft on P2P services that has cost the record industry 100s of jobs and 100s of millions in royalties to artists. The use of P2P networks to steal music has calmed substantially since the start of the RIAA's campaign three years ago.
Beckerman claims on his blog he now has the RIAA on the run since U.S. District Judge David Trager has granted his request to pursue this motion. A trial is scheduled for sometime in 2007.
Case: UMG Recordings v. Marie Lindor, 05CV1095.
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Tower is Gone. So What? Who Cares?
I've gotten a little sick of reading posts bemoaning the death of Tower Records . It's all over the net. Every so-called music business guru and expert thinks they know what this means. I'm going to tell you what it means in a second, but first here's the digest of what most are saying.
"This is what the music business gets and deserves for being greedy and ignoring the internet."
"It's the end of the music business for sure."
"The death knell is upon us."
Okay, you get the idea. You ready for the truth? Can you handle the truth? It means this…
Nothing.
Stores close all the time without it meaning Armageddon. Did the closing of Woolworths stop Wal-Mart from prospering? Not! And I can assure you that the closing of Tower Records will have just about zero negative impact on Best Buy —where over half of America buys it's music.
Sometime before the end of this year or soon into January I'm going to write my state-of-the-business pantheon. It will go into more detail. But for now here's my recommendation for dealing with people who say the music business is dying or in "serious trouble." Walk away. They don't know what they are talking about.
And I'll say it here: I challenge ANYONE who has the credentials to call themselves an "expert in the music business" to debate me with a viewpoint to the contrary. I've had just about enough of this BS about this business being on life-support. This past year the business saw more gross revenue than it has seen since the 1960s. It's preposterous to think that anything is wrong on a global scale. People who say otherwise are just trying to frighten you so you'll look towards them as an authority.
Disappoint them.
UNIVERSAL SUES MYSPACE YET AGAIN?
Majors Wants To Have Their MySpace And Eat It Too
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Just when you thought it was safe to get back in the music biz, Universal Music reminds us that it's never too late to alienate allies. MySpace was bought by News Corp for $580 million and now UMD wants to take just about all of it. They claimed MySpace as "a vast virtual warehouse for pirated copies of music videos and songs," and is suing for close to $1 Billion.
Last month UMD made a deal with MySpace to play it cool with them in exchange for their promise to do whatever they can to prevent infringement through use of their service. Apparently they are not doing enough. Now UMD is suing and asking for the max: $150,000 per infringement. At this rate, with the tens of thousands of sites that use unauthorized content, MySpace will be forced into a dot com retirement home.
The UMD suit comes almost to the day that MySpace claims the release of a tool that will alert copyright holders that they are being jacked. MySpace would then remove any of the infringing content. This is in concert with the already in place Gracenote fingerprinting technology that supposedly prevents the posting of unauthorized music. "Clearly it doesn't," says UNI, "The foundation of MySpace is its so-called 'user-generated content.' However, much of that content is not 'user-generated' at all. Rather, it is 'user-stolen.'" The suit cites major stars like U2, 50 Cent, and Prince as acts whose recordings have allegedly been posted without permission on the site.
Now we know that UMD is just looking out for their artists. Yeah we know that. And we know that they are legally in the right. But jees. MySpace is the best thing to come along for artists to promote themselves without a major label. Oh wait!!! Could that be a motivation for UMD to sue?
MySpace claims, "We are in full compliance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and have no doubt we will prevail in court." They are referring to the DMCA's so-called "safe-harbor provision" which says that a dot com host is not responsible for what gets posted on its server; a defense that has thus far not impressed Courts. Can you say, Napster, Nutella, Kazaa and Grokster .
Representing the UMG plaintiffs are Steven Marenberg, Elliot Brown and Gregory Fayer of Los Angeles ' Irell & Manella.
Comments can be left at a UMD special hot line set up to handle your feelings on this subject. Just call: 1-800-How's my Suing?
The case is UMG Recordings Inc. v. MySpace Inc., 06cv07361.
IS DEE SNIDER THE NEW FEMINIST HERO?
Twisted Sister Makes Medical History:
First Rock Band to Fight PMS
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Following the trend of pop groups making unorthodox deals to sell their music, Twisted Sister, the Long Island 80s hair band that celebrated male ego, has licensed their hit, "We're Not Gonna Take It" to a TV commercial for Sarafem, a drug that relieves severe PMS in women and some metrosexuals. In the ad which aired this week, the song, written by lead singer, Dee Snider, scores a montage of professional women looking sternly empowered in high-profile jobs.
"Hard rock has not been a common choice for selling women's products and we feel this is a bold move," said a source at the ad agency. "It's an important leap for women's rights too," said Lorena Bobbit, who was the first to successfully use PMS as a defense when she cut off her husband's penis in 1993 because he failed to give her an orgasm. "Had I had this drug back then I might have been a different person."
The choice to use this song came out of an intense debate among executives of the drug's manufacturer, Warner Chilcott. "We wanted a positive upbeat anthem," said a company rep. The rock song tested best over, "I Haven't Got Time For the Pain," "Janie's Got A Gun" and the Meredith Brooks hit, "Bitch."
Will "We're not gonna take it" become the new millennium's "burn your bra?" Lead guitarist for the rock group, Jay Jay French, sees the possibilities. He said the money for this placement was "an offer too good to refuse." Not satisfied with a potential Nobel Prize for fighting PMS, he's considering taking on other medical issues. "I'd like to license 'I Wanna Rock' for Viagra and 'Come Out And Play' for Cialis ."
Is this a good mix? Rock bands certainly know a great deal about using recreational drugs. Can they make the transition to endorsing over-the-counter ones? In 2004 Kool & The Gang licensed "Celebrate" to Pfizerfor their drug Celebrex. The drug was supposed to relieve heart conditions but was proven to increase the risk of heart attack in many users.
Stick to pot and coke fellas.
For more on Sarafem and the condition it addresses go to: http://www.wcrx.com/products/sarafem.php
That's all f'now. See ya next year.
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