June 16, 2005
Stealing your music
Via Kottke.org (a website I find at once interesting to read but impossible to navigate), here's one man's open letter to the music industry, explaining why after years of staunchly defending them, he has given in and started to steal music.
But I have also now started stealing your music. I haven't stolen much, but I'm sure you will agree that the moral issue is not merely one of quantity. I have been one of the last independent apologists for a moral kernel, elusive now to perhaps the point of imagination, in your corrupt and desperate retreat, but now even I have given up. I still buy, but now I also steal. You have forfeited your right to my loyalty. And maybe you're too lost and beaten to care, and even more likely it's too late to matter, but for a few minutes I'm going to pretend that neither of those things are so. I'm going to pretend that you're still capable of awareness and reason, and in a spirit of truth that you long ago stopped deserving, while I've still taken little enough to list, I'm going to tell you exactly what I have stolen from you, and why.
-- Glenn McDonald
I lack his vast music budget, but otherwise almost totally agree.
Posted by James at 18:18
Tags for this entry: copyright
music
piracy
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Comments
Maybe it's just my partially-enebriated state, but the article you refer to is the least coherent essay on the topic I've read for quite some time. The author has some good points, but some of if is complete waffly shite. The whole issue of the ethics of copyright infringement is an interesting and difficult one, but this is full of spurious arguments.
For example, in his "Kyo: Kyo" paragraph he appears to be trying to justify copyright theft on the basis that the music didn't happen to be distributed where he lived. Huh?
I can't make head or tale of the following paragraph...: "I don't like you're style of musical development, so I am going to steal your music" is about as far as I can get from the opening paragraph.
I'd go on with this analysis, but it's all the same. What is this guy *actually* trying to say? It only seems like a collection of weak, angsty justifications for stealing music.
Posted by: Dom at June 16, 2005 11:16 PM
I agree it's waffley, and maybe even angsty, and I'll throw in pretentious too. And yes, it does boil down to a much simpler argument (or small set of arguments). But, I still fundamentally agree with those simpler arguments.
- There might be lots of albums out there I'd love to buy, but without being able to sample them, I can't find out. Illegally downloading stuff is a way round this.
- Stuff being released in one part of the world but not another (like DVDs coming out in R1 months before in R2 -- I realise this is about film, not music, but still) is blatantly ridiculous, and using piracy to circumvent it fair game.
- And so on...
I don't think he intended to write a coherent essay, so much as a ranty open letter targetted at the music industry.
Posted by: James at June 17, 2005 12:22 AM