Oz Kazaa Kase: more
p2p news / p2pnet: Following our post of a copyrighted (Yup ; ) Australian court document centering on Kazaa vs The Record Labels copyright issues, and thoughts on whether or not the Big Four Organized Music cartel might be changing its mind about Audible Magic’s efficacy, we had an interesting email from “Industry Insider”.
The individual said for “obvious reasons” he or she didn’t want to reveal his or her name but, “The Audible Magic article was great, and the response by the recording industry has been priceless. Everyone at ARIA seems to be making policy on the run, and it’s not making a lot of sense!” >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Meet Felicity Moffatt
By an Anonymous Australian Music Industry Insider
It’s been a while since [ex-Music Industry Piracy Investigations, MIPI, boss Michael] Speck left the recording industry, and ARIA have been looking for a new spokesman/spokesperson. Like him or loathe him (usually the latter) the guy knew his way around the media spotlight.
There has been speculation about who would be the replacement. Some thought it would be ARIA CEO Stephen Peach, especially after he threatened to shut Kazaa down on December 5. Peach’s comment was especially surprising since it contradicted Justice Wilcox who has repeatedly said that Kazaa “should not be shut down”. Some thought the spokesman would be Michael Williams who is ARIA’s lawyer.
But no, it looks like the new spokesperson will be Felicity Moffatt, a former court reporter who is a contractor to ARIA.
I imagine she got the spokesperson gig because after Speck’s departure, MIPI became a shell of itself with no employees, no manager, little or no funding, and no leader. It’s also apparent that none of the many Australian record company execs have wanted to step forward either and comment on the case. They mostly didn’t even come to the case! Peach’s only appearance in the year and a half long case was on judgement day.
Anyway, in a surprising announcement Moffatt said that the Australian record companies were intending to pursue WORLDWIDE damages against Kazaa.
Moffatt recently said “that Sharman had tried to sway public opinion by ’sleight of hand,’ with a claim that the ruling affects Australian operations only and that any damages would also be limited by geography. No figure has been placed on damages other than seeking a $200 million bank guarantee. We will be seeking damages in billions, which will represent the price for the average cost of a song on a legal site over the length of the time that Kazaa has been running.” (http://www.smarthouse.com.au/Entertainment/Industry/?article=/Entertainment/Industry/News/S6W3J2W2)
There is a real backflip taking place here. The backflip is that throughout the case MIPI talked about Australian artists (like Delta Goodrem), uploads and downloads by Australians on Kazaa, as well as losses and legal remedies available to the record companies in Australia. This case has never been a “global” case. It never COULD be a global case because the lawyers knew there were problems involved in an Australian court claiming jurisdiction over what went on in, for example, Canada.
Anyway, Moffatt has now claimed (on behalf of ARIA) the entire world as her oyster. She has single handily changed the direction of this case.
I wonder if Moffatt, given her evident expertise on damages issues, will get into the witness box in the damages hearing, if and when it comes up. If not her, it will be interesting to see who from ARIA, the record companies and MIPI steps forward to testify on the amount of losses suffered by the record companies.
I can’t wait to see the pleadings in an Australian damages hearing which talk about Kazaa downloads in Mexico or the Netherlands, of tracks uploaded in Canada or Iceland.
No really … I can’t wait!
Also read:-
Kazaa vs The Record Labels – Big Music Kazaa blunder: II, November 26, 2005
changing its mind – Big Music drops Audible Magic, December 1, 2005
December 2nd, 2005 at 12:10 pm
“We will be seeking damages in billions, which will represent the price for the average cost of a song on a legal site over the length of the time that Kazaa has been running.”
Billions? This is a really far fetched twisted logic. There is no evidence to suggest that a downloaded song is a song not sold. Sure some persons may not buy a CD because the song they wanted was downloaded, but some persons may buy a CD after tasting a download. Recently a Spanish judge refused to award damages to a record producers based on the claim that the sale of pirated copies reduced the sales of the bona fide records. The Spanish judge said he was not convinced of the economic theory presented by the record companies. I interpret that to mean that there was no empirical evidence of correlation between the sale of pirated copies and the sale the bona fide records.
Then the idea of money for downloading in other countries is absurd if money from those contries did not flow into Kazaa coffers.
In the end the best decision is that if there is no viable filter for all types of files, there cannot be a prohibition against sharing and downloading unless the Internet is shut down. After all the browser is an even bigger inducer to infringement that the p2p programs. Just think, the “Set as Wallpaper” in just an invitation to take an authors work and copy it into windows for your viewing pleasure, without the author’s permission. Ditto for the “Save as” option of the browser.
Damn it, we are all thieve infringer (per RIAA) and “we” include all the judges.
Rafael Venegas
http://www.gvenegas.com