RIAA Sues 16 C.U. Students | The Cornell Daily Sun

RIAA Sues 16 C.U. Students | The Cornell Daily Sun

Another student who received a settlement letter and avoided further litigation by paying the settlement fee voiced her frustration with the RIAA’s recent actions.

“I think this country has gotten completely out of control with personal property rights,” she said. “Music, art and literature should be about sharing an experience with as many people as possible. I think that real artists and inventors should be content to know that their music is so widely appreciated and admired. It has also been shown that music downloading and sampling has helped the music industry because people are able to test and try music before buying it. Music sharing is hardly a serious crime.”

Ok, I think that the RIAA’s approach to this is ridiculous. It does no one any good, except for the lawyers. The biggest problem however is that it leads to this sort of thinking. Again:

I think that real artists and inventors should be content to know that their music is so widely appreciated and admired.

When she grows up and becomes and architect, I want her to design a house for me so that I can tell her that a real architect should be content to know how much my family and I appreciate and love and admire the great house that she designed for us.

There has to be a balance point. Somewhere between the RIAA Nazi approach, and the idea that everything should be free, lies the rational space where the possibilities of the the internet to promote and evangelize good art don’t completely obliterate any revenue possibilities for the artists.

(Via Boing Boing.)

2 thoughts on “RIAA Sues 16 C.U. Students | The Cornell Daily Sun”

  1. Yes, I had seen that. I don’t know that the “record industry” is solely responsible for the devaluing of CDs, although they had a large role. I think the combination of download technology and high prices (which are the industry’s fault) have worked together to fuel the old-school Napster music-should-be-free idea, which undermines sales of all music. I have seen $10 CD sales on quite brisk levels at live shows. I think those sales would be much less brisk if the CDs were $20, or even $15.

    Personally, I buy more downloads than physical CDs these days. It’s easier and leads to less junk cluttering my office. Most of the CDs I have bought recently have been bought at performances from the artist.

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