Pot Calls the Kettle Black

I never cease to be amazed how the rich and powerful are convinced that despite living in a "democratic" society, they are convinced that there should be a different set of laws for them from what they want to apply to the poor and the powerless.

Here's an interesting story about enforcing copyright law in Canada. This is from an article by Michael Geist in the Toronto Star. I've bolded the key bit:

Record industry faces liability over `infringement'

Chet Baker was a leading jazz musician in the 1950s, playing trumpet and providing vocals. Baker died in 1988, yet he is about to add a new claim to fame as the lead plaintiff in possibly the largest copyright infringement case in Canadian history. His estate, which still owns the copyright in more than 50 of his works, is part of a massive class-action lawsuit that has been underway for the past year.

The infringer has effectively already admitted owing at least $50 million and the full claim could exceed $60 billion. If the dollars don't shock, the target of the lawsuit undoubtedly will: The defendants in the case are Warner Music Canada, Sony BMG Music Canada, EMI Music Canada, and Universal Music Canada, the four primary members of the Canadian Recording Industry Association.

The CRIA members were hit with the lawsuit in October 2008 after artists decided to turn to the courts following decades of frustration with the rampant infringement (I am adviser to the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic, which is co-counsel, but have had no involvement in the case).

The claims arise from a longstanding practice of the recording industry in Canada, described in the lawsuit as "exploit now, pay later if at all." It involves the use of works that are often included in compilation CDs (ie. the top dance tracks of 2009) or live recordings. The record labels create, press, distribute and sell the CDs, but do not obtain the necessary copyright licences.

Instead, the names of the songs on the CDs are placed on a "pending list," which signifies that approval and payment is pending. The pending list dates back to the late 1980s, when Canada changed its copyright law by replacing a compulsory licence with the need for specific authorization for each use. It is perhaps better characterized as a copyright infringement admission list, however, since for each use of the work, the record label openly admits that it has not obtained copyright permission and not paid any royalty or fee.

Over the years, the size of the pending list has grown dramatically, now containing more than 300,000 songs.

...

After years of claiming Canadian consumers disrespect copyright, the irony of having the recording industry face a massive lawsuit will not be lost on anyone, least of all the artists still waiting to be paid. Indeed, they are also seeking punitive damages, arguing "the conduct of the defendant record companies is aggravated by their strict and unremitting approach to the enforcement of their copyright interests against consumers."

While I have no love for "file sharers" who ignore ownership, the hypocrisy of the recording industry to bankrupt "little people" via lawsuits over copyright while they themselves are massive fraudsters and hypocrites about copyright is just too juicy!

What bothers me most is how the recording companies are hypocrites who live up to the Biblical injunction about the "complaining about a mote in another's eye, while having beam in your own eye" standard of behaviour. These companies in the US have used the RIAA (the recording companies "front") to sue individuals for tens of thousands of dollars for "file sharing" when they make their copy of recordings available. That is bad. But it is far worse to be harassing the little guy while it turns out that you have been breaking that very same law yourself to the tune of tens of millions of dollars! This is the disgusting behaviour of the rich who think they are above the law, or that there should be one law for the poor and an exemption from the law for themselves.

I really enjoy Michael Geist's writings. His blog is well worth following.

Cory Doctorow is another champion of the little guy in the fight against oppressive copyright laws:



If you want more depth, here is Cory Doctorow giving a 40 minute talk at Univ North Carolina Chapel Hill. Skip the first 5 minutes of blah, blah introductions. If you want the heart of the copyright fight, jump about 26 minutes into the video.