Tuesday, March 08, 2005
Cheap music
Last month the International Federation of the Phonographic Industries (IFPI) urged Russian authorities to take action against AllofMP3.com.
But Moscow prosecutors will not take legal action because Russian copyright laws do not cover digital media, according to news agency Tass.
The IFPI said it would fight the ruling if the Tass report was correct.
In a posting on its website AllofMP3 said the service was legal and that it was licensed to sell the MP3 tracks by the Russian Multimedia and Internet Society.
But the IFPI said the site was "unlicensed to distribute our members' repertoire inside Russia and in all major markets".
According to Tass, prosecutors had decided not to pursue with legal action because Russian copyright laws only cover physical media such as CDs or DVDs and not digital files such as MP3s.
"We have received no confirmation of any decision and we do not expect it for some time," a spokeswoman for the IFPI said.
"However if it is true that the prosecutor has not taken the case this would be very disappointing considering the blatant and large-scale infringement that continues to take place.
"If these reports are confirmed we will take the case further."
With online distribution, the music publishers don’t have to print CDs, labels, or liner notes. They're not shipping or paying for fancy in-store display cases. They're saving money left and right. And customers who order songs online may decide to purchase the CD itself later down the line. (If marketed properly, and with customer incentives offered, this would be more likely.)
There must be a middle ground between the 10-cent-a-song AllofMP3 and the buck-a-song mainstream. eMusic is the best alternative (it's completely legal and artists friendly, and the total cost is about 25 cents a song), but the non-indie music corporations have kept their catalogues away from them.
People simply aren't going to stop using illegal P2P file sharing until truly affordable rates are offered -- and now that the public has tasted the fruit of the free music tree (illegal or not), they're not going to give up easily. New options must be offered.
In the meantime, we've gotta grab the free and cheap tunes while we still can:
Cheap Music for the Masses
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