Macenstein

Posted by Igor

During today’s DMCA rule-making proceedings, Donald B. Verrilli, Jr. (representing the RIAA) argued before the US Supreme Court that the act of listening to legally purchased music violates the terms of “fair use� as outlined in Section 107 of the Copyright Act. He cites that the laws defining “fair use� include the phrase:

“…how the use will impact the market for the original work.�

“It is with this line that we take issue,� stated Verrilli. “Imagine the following scenario:

A person goes into their favorite record shop and buys the latest CD (i.e. original work) from their favorite recording artist. It is safe to say that that person, upon buying the CD, would be less inclined to feel the need to purchase that CD again, since they already own it. Thus, the market for that original work takes a hit each time it is purchased. This happens hundreds of thousands of times a day right here in America, and overseas the problem is even worse.

The problem is particularly bad for top-selling artists. Take for example the album “Speakerboxxx/the Love Below� by Outkast. That album sold 8 million copies in the U.S. last year. That represents a loss of 8 million potential buyers to Sony/BMG and Zomba Label Group. The market for that album has been completely ruined by those 8 million people who bought the album.�

The RIAA, to its credit, says the problem CAN be solved, and has proposed a solution for this “dilution of market� effect.

“We would like to begin selling CDs which are unplayable on ALL devices. We feel that if people cannot listen to their music, then they cannot become sick of it, and will be more likely to buy another copy. The potential market for the work will never be reduced.�