"Canadian music giant funds battle against RIAA"
"Lawsuits should be shield not sword"
By Andrew Orlowski in San Francisco
Published Friday 27th January 2006 02:32 GMT
Canada's biggest record label, publisher and management company is helping out a family sued by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)for copyright infringement.
The privately-owned Nettwerk Music Group is intervening, it says, because the songs downloaded by the Gruebel family include Avril Lavigne, a Nettwerk management client. Nettwerk will fund the Gruebel's defense.
"The current actions of the RIAA are not in my artists' best interests," said Nettwerk chief executive Terry McBride in a statement.
"Litigation is not 'artist development'. Litigation is a deterrent to creativity and passion and it is hurting the business I love."
Chicago lawyer Charles Lee Mudd will defend the Gruebels.
Mudd said the RIAA has "misapplied" the law and that lawsuits should be a "shield, not a sword".
The RIAA has demanded the family pay a $9,000 penalty, reduced to $4,500 if they pay up promptly. Nettwerk has vowed to foot the legal bill if it loses the case.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/01/27/nettwerk_sues_riaa/
#4491....
All I can say is "that's cool". Perhaps if places didn't charge so much for CDs, downloading wouldn't be such a problem. I don't know what you guys in the States and Canada pay for CDs, but over here they go from £9-£18 for a chart CD (that's about US $9-$30 according to Google conversion).
SethD - Probably The Worst Guitarist In The World, Ever.
Excellent! :D
..· ´¨¨)) -:¦:-
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-:¦:- ((¸¸.·´ -:¦:- Elecktrablue -:¦:-
"Don't wanna ride no shootin' star. Just wanna play on the rhythm guitar." Emmylou Harris, "Rhythm Guitar" from "The Ballad of Sally Rose"
Go stick it to the man - at last, the RIAA getting a taste of their own medicine
A :-)
"Be good at what you can do" - Fingerbanger"
I have always felt that it is better to do what is beautiful than what is 'right'" - Eliot Fisk
Wedding music and guitar lessons in Essex. Listen at: http://www.rollmopmusic.co.uk
I feel for you Seth. I spent a month just outside of Portsmouth last summer and man did I find it expensive. I remember buying Dddarrio strings for 8 pounds = 20 Can. They run for about 7 or 8 dollars here. It was expensive buy I had a good time. It was my first trip to Europe.
Most CD's would go for around 15-18 dollars here.
Cheers,
Max
Would have been a wonderfull story if NMG would do this out of pure goodwill. But I have this dark feeling some bright light at their office noticed that it would a helluva lot of positive PR for a mere 10k. It's not as much about whats the right thing, it's more about a disagreement between NMG and RIAA about how to earn the most.
Yeah, I don't think I've ever heard of a company doing something completely out of kindness. I guess all the kind companies get run out out of business sooner or later.
I think they should be applauded reguardless of their motives real or imagined
#4491....
It's nice to see the orcs fighting amongst themselves. :lol:
I started with nothing - and I've still got most of it left.
Did you know that the word "gullible" is not in any dictionary?
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Yeah, I don't think I've ever heard of a company doing something completely out of kindness. I guess all the kind companies get run out out of business sooner or later.
Don't they all get bought by Microsoft and then closed down? Ahem.
A: -)
"Be good at what you can do" - Fingerbanger"
I have always felt that it is better to do what is beautiful than what is 'right'" - Eliot Fisk
Wedding music and guitar lessons in Essex. Listen at: http://www.rollmopmusic.co.uk
To be honest tho, any companys responcibility is to make money for the owners or shareholders first, not to stroke public opinion.
If they can do both at once then it's a "win-win" situation.
#4491....
This might be bigger than you might think. This is the first time that any one who has been sued by the riaa will actually fight back. This might be interesting :wink:
Twisted, I can't see how a company can justify ripping off every single person down the production line just to get the best share price. And once one company does this, its competitors are forced to follow suit to stay above water, then we get the kind of exploitation we see today. That said, this case sounds different to all that. I guess I'm just looking for an excuse to whinge :(.
It's nice to see the orcs fighting amongst themselves. :lol:
Or let us send Aragorn and Legolas to do the duty. :wink:
Twisted, I can't see how a company can justify ripping off every single person down the production line just to get the best share price. And once one company does this, its competitors are forced to follow suit to stay above water, then we get the kind of exploitation we see today. That said, this case sounds different to all that. I guess I'm just looking for an excuse to whinge :(.
The term "justify" does not apply unlees you are a shareholder. that's my point.
I'm not saying that i think it's a great thing to "rip off" people as you state it, but nobody holds a gun to the customers head to force them to buy a product.
#4491....
