pampelmoose Dave Allen of Gang of Four’s Music and Media Blog

The thinking shed

I suppose it was inevitable. The same day the Gang of Four news broke I received a letter from the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) asking me to comply with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). The IFPI has every right to ask me to comply with the law as it stands under the DMCA, the problem is this -

“The Digital Millennium Copyright Act has been criticized for making it too easy for copyright owners to encourage website owners to take down infringing content and links when it may not in fact be infringing. When website owners receive a takedown notice it is in their interest not to challenge it, even if it is not clear if infringement is taking place, because if the potentially infringing content is taken down the website will not be held liable. The Electronic Frontier Foundation senior IP attorney Fred von Lohmann has said this is one of the problems with the DMCA.”

This is the critical phrase “it is in their interest not to challenge it” and of course I can not challenge it. The file in question was ‘Silence’ by Portishead which arrived in my inbox purportedly directly from the band. It was an unfinished version of the song so my presumption was, that like many bands these days, Portishead or their label had ‘leaked’ the file to create a buzz. The buzz worked - the song was everywhere on the ‘net especially on the music blogs. Then the notice, then the takedown.

If we bloggers are now going to be targeted for infringing works it means we must now be extra diligent in finding out where the music files are coming from. It’s an odd situation to be in. For years the way to expose music to people was via the airwaves on FM radio. The songs were given away free and if they were popular, album sales followed. And let’s not forget payola too, the practice of rewarding radio DJs with cash and gifts to play those songs on the air. Then there’s MTV where the record labels pay hundreds of thousands of $$$$’s to give content to Viacom for free to air on the channel. I argue that music blogs are the new radio and I said as much on my panel at SanFranMusicTech on Thursday. The DMCA is now ten years old as it was signed into law by Bill Clinton in 1998. It’s time for an overhaul and a new look at how music is exposed to a very large interactive audience. Obviously I will now use my absolute best efforts to comply with the current DMCA. Meanwhile the labels should heed the words of Terry McBride of Nettwerk - “You can’t litigate behaviour.” The Moose will continue to support independent musicians and labels.

Read the notice and my reply.