Music "Piracy"

This was originally written on September 9, 2003 as a response to comments regarding music copying on a Linux e-mail list. Most of the information is given in the response:

It is also interesting to note that the writers of the constitution probably meant about 15 years when they said "for limited times." At least this is the sentiment expressed by Thomas Jefferson in one of his letters that I read.

More specifically, something like, "I don't like monopolies, (copyrights and patents are legal monopolies) and thing we would be better off banning them completely, however I realize we don't have the political clout to do this, so maybe we could allow an author to have exclusive rights for a limited time, maybe 15 years." (My paraphrase.)

Response

There was a response to this, and I expanded my comments later the same day:

I think there is an aspect of this discussion which is often lost. Personally, I think anyone who copies a DVD is stupid, because at less than $20 per shot for most DVD's (from discount houses) its just not worth it.

Now, a DVD consists of often more than 4 hours worth of video and audio. The problem is that I go into the music shop, and the music CD cost as much or more than the DVD's, with at most an hour of audio. In my mind, this means the CD should cost about $5.00 to be comparable. With the cost of the plastic, etc. the production costs probably are less than $1, so why not sell them for $5.

Another aspect which is lost is who is complaining. While some music groups get into these complaints, most don't. The people complaining are the CD industry, because they loose sales. Something like the old record industry trying to get CD's declared illegal because it cut into record prices and sales. Or the old livery stable industry trying to get cars declared illegal for the same reason.

Part of the reason the performers don't complain is financial. That is, a music group that gets its records widely distributed can command a much higher price to give a concert, therefore why complain. In fact, the performers get only pennies for CD sales anyway.

This is exactly analogous to free (as in freedom) software. A programmer who can get recognized as producing good software for distribution can expect a much higher salary if he takes a job. Linux Torvalds got nothing for writing Linux, yet he became a millionaire because of that action.

This whole issue of copyright infringement is much more complicated that just "theft" or "piracy" can convey.