Copyrights are Complicated
I really need to sit down and write up a long, detailed rant about the RIAA/MPAA and copyright issues. I got inspired today by two blog posts by Scott Adams (here and here) which between them have so far elicited about 700 comments. My sarcastic response to his posts in particular goes something like this:
- Smart people see the world in shades of gray.
- I am a smart person.
- ????
- Profit
I think the inherent problem with copyright issues is that piracy is the thing that is most likely to bring them to the fore, but it’s also the thing most likely to cloud the issue. I mean, I’m willing to go with the idea that piracy is wrong, but when it comes to one guy downloading an mp3 or an episode of Family Guy, I can’t help but think of its wrongness as being on par with, say, speeding. That is, it’s a bit worse than jaywalking, but it’s also too common to take all that seriously.
The other thing that clouds the argument is that some of the leading organizations on the anti-piracy side aren’t exactly saints themselves. When the SFWA is saying that they want to see less piracy, I suspect people are inclined to nod in agreement. When the MPAA says that piracy “stifles creativity,” anyone who has any inkling of how Hollywood works gives a collective WTF. The reason the rest of the entertainment industry is located back east and Hollywood was as far removed from that as physically possible is because the early film pioneers were dodging taxes and patent fees. On top of that in the early days there were fly-by-night outfits on the level of the dot-com bubble. That might help explain why we have directors and producers who will buy the rights to quality scripts and foreign films for the sole purpose of making sure none of their rivals get to have them. And that’s before we mention Hollywood’s weird bookkeeping, of which one experienced screenwriter said flat-out: “It is theft.” I’ve heard rumors that the recording industry grew out of a mob-controlled club scene, but that the artists get maybe 8 cents out of every dollar you spent on a CD is easy to verify. Of course, as far as I know the RIAA never made any effort to claim that priacy is bad because the artists need to be compensated.
One thing that pretty much anyone who doesn’t work for the RIAA (which primarily means EMI, Sony BMG, Universal, and Warner) will agree on is that their lawsuits and intimidation against individuals are going too far. By some dictionary definitions, what they’re doing could be considered terrorism (usually you have to use violence, mind you); their job is to create an atmosphere of fear, after all, and thereby cut down on music piracy. People see the “RIAA” is doing it, and they don’t really think about the fact that the RIAA is basically playing the role of a PR shield for its members, again primarily the Big Four. Even if I were willing to accept these tactics, I really wonder if they aren’t being kind of stupid in how they pursue their cases. They pretty much never drop a suit unless things get to a courtroom where it looks like they’re going to lose, even if the victim is saying “You can come look at my hard drive if you want. I was living in another state at the time and I don’t listen to gangsta rap. Oh, and I had a stroke and am living on disability right now; paying you guys $4,000 just isn’t possible.” Of course, the fact that it’s treated as a civil trial makes it much more complicated and open to legal bullying. Maybe it should be treated more like a speeding ticket; then if you get caught you pay a few hundred dollars at most, and go on your way.
Once again, others have said stuff much more eloquently than I ever could have. The EFF and whatnot. Piracy is bad, but it isn’t “theft” except in a metaphorical and deliberately inflammatory sense. It’s all in very confusing shades of gray, and the RIAA isn’t helping the matter by responding with legal tactics that I (and presumably plenty of other people) find much more morally repugnant than the piracy itself. If I ever get my writing off the ground, I wouldn’t be thrilled to see my work being pirated, but knowing the quantity and variety of stuff that gets pirated, I wouldn’t be terribly shocked or offended. At most I might post on some torrent sites saying “Hey, this is the author. I’m glad you like my stuff but… could you please consider buying a copy?” At least it would mean someone noticed. I’m willing to bet it’d earn me a lot more sales than suing computer illiterate grandmothers.
