p2pnet news view Freedom | P2P:- Downloads aren’t illegal, says a new and powerful lobby group of famous UK artists and performers including Blur drummer Dave Rowntree, Soul II Soul’s Jazzie B, Billy Bragg, Radiohead’s Ed O’Brien, Kate Nash, Marillion’s Mark Kelly and rapper Master Shortie.

“The inaugural meeting of the U.K.’s Featured Artists’ Coalition (FAC) in London resulted in a unanimous vote among its members against any measures that criminalize file-sharing,” says Billboard.

The 140-strong FAC was formed, “to give artists a collective voice to campaign for effective laws and regulations, as well as transparent and equitable business practices,” it says, going on »»»

As well as discussing the general aims and logistics of the new body, there was also a unanimous show of hands against the idea of criminalizing file-sharers, according to those present.

There was concern about any legal body taking action against fans who were involved in file-sharing and preventing them getting broadband access to be informed about the activities of their favorite acts.

Their statement comes in an obvious response to an international campaign organised by the corporate music industry, ie Vivendi Universal, EMI, Warner Music and Sony Music, to browbeat ISPs into acting as a taxpayer- and provider-funded copyright enforcement agencies.

So far, only France and New Zealand have caved into Big 4 demands.

‘My back catalogue should be my pension’

Three years ago Billy Bragg angrily pulled his music from Rupert Murdoch’s MySpace because the site’s terms and conditions more or less claimed complete ownership of the material.

His move forced MySpace to publicly state, “MySpace.com does not claim any ownership rights in the text, files, images, photos, video, sounds, musical works, works of authorship, or any other materials (collectively, `Content`) that you post to the MySpace Services”.

Now, “I believe my back catalogue should be my pension and not that of some geezer at a record company,” the BBC has hin saying, continuing »»»

What we need is an industry where the next Billy Bragg can make a living like I have for the past 25 years.

The FAC will actually go out and mentor and educate young artists not to sign ‘life of copyright’ deals.

In the old days, if you wanted your album to be out in Portland, Oregon, say, it needed to be physically made, physically distributed, so it made sense to sign with a big record company and to give them those rights for perhaps 12% of the dealer price.

Now, none of that holds water any more. There’s no reason to sign ‘life of copyright’ deals. Shamefully some labels are still giving new artists deals that have deductions for packaging on an MP3. It’s ridiculous. So the industry really needs to come forward with us.

Bragg told The Independent the group will, “express their views to Lord Carter, who suggested that individuals downloading music illegally should be brought to justice”.

“If we follow the music industry down that road, we will be doing nothing more than being part of a protectionist effort, he says in the story. “It’s like trying to put toothpaste back in the tube.

“Artists should own their own rights and they should decide when their music should be used for free, or when they should have payment.”

All about money. Phk the users

The timing of the creation of the coalition is, “pertinent, coming as YouTube prepares to block thousands of music videos on its site amid a dispute over the royalties,” says Times Online.

YouTube, owned by giant US internet advertising company, Google,  “says it has no intention of changing its mind about blocking music videos to UK users, despite a plea from the Performing Rights Society to change its mind,” said p2pnet on Tuesday, going on:

“It is, as usual, all about money. Phk the users who keep it rolling in, in other words

GooTube is, “removing all premium music videos to UK users after failing to reach a new licensing agreement with the PRS,” said the BBC.

“Patrick Walker, YouTube’s director of video partnerships said it remained committed to agreeing terms.”

The ban could spread to MySpace UK and other music sites, The Guardian had ‘industry sources’ saying.

Meanwhile,  “Google, YouTube’s owner is a company that makes billions in profits,” Billy Brag told Times Online, adding, “we think they should be paying artist royalties from the advertising revenue they make.

“A dispute like this illustrates the needs for the creation of the Featured Artists Coalition, so we have have a voice and the public understand that sites like Google should be paying for music.”

FAC members, “complain that performers often do not receive any royalties from digital music deals – struck on confidential terms none of the artists understand – and that music companies unfairly restrict creative expression by hanging on to copyright for up to 50 years,” it says.

Definitely stay tuned.

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UPDATE: Decision apparently wasn’t unanimous after all. Click here for more.

Billboard – Featured Artists Opposed To Cutting Off File-Sharers, March 12, 2009
caved into Big 4 demands – New Zealand 3-strikes anti-P2P bill killed, March 12, 2009
angrily pulled his music – Billy Brag wins MySpace fight, June 30, 2006”
BBC – ‘Why music artists need a voice’, March 12, 2009
The Independent – It’s not a crime to download, say musicians, March 12, 2009
Times Online – Top musicians unite to form copyright lobby group, March 10, 2009
p2pnet -  UK YouTube video ban could spread, March 10, 2009
BBC – YouTube stands by UK video block,  March 10, 2009
The Guardian – YouTube rights row over music videos could spread to MySpace,  March 10, 2009

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This entry was posted on Friday, March 13th, 2009 at 10:30 am and is filed under Freedom, P2P. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

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