Hey DJ's. you might wanna read this

[Hot Karl]

http://www.djmag.com/news_20.asp

DJs mix CDs attacked in attempt to control copyright

Words: Terry Church

The Record Industry Association of America (RIAA) has launched a new campaign against DJs in an attempt to control copyright infringement.

They have already confiscated $100,000’s worth of mix CDs from independent record stores across the US.

DJ mix CDs, sold in almost every independent record store are on the whole unlicensed and technically illegal to distribute. However, DJs and producers alike often rely upon these illegal mixes in order to gain credibility, and to promote themselves to the general public.

The practice is in fact approved of by most producers who see it as fundamental to the survival of the dance scene - even if it is their tracks that are being copied and played without permission.
This latest attack by the RIAA is therefore hypocritical – they claim that their pursuit of copyright infringement is primarily in the interest of the artist, yet most dance producers actually approve of and rely upon this illegal distribution.


The dance scene relies upon these ‘illegal’ ways to survive, and it seems that the only people who actually care about this particular copyright infringement are not the artists themselves but the record companies – who are only involved in the dance scene for profit.

that's the complete article

[Tux]

stupid RIAA. good thing were not in the US.

[AWOL]

once again the government acts on interests of the people

EG. companies that contribute finnacially

[Moon]

hahaha but seriously took em long enough to get on it eh?

i mean common as a dj you cant expect to be totally legit compiling other peoples music and selling it! haha

main reason why i give all my mixes for free

besides all that the music biz is pretty sad... it's depressing how companies like the riaa need to resort to things like this to make some coin.

[C_squared]

^ Word. That's the only way to get good cred & to not get in shit...is to give out your mixes for free.

But I'm not surprised this is happening...It was enevedable (sp*)

[BenGiovanni]

kick em straight in the nuts if they come for any cds in canada!:D
then run while laughing evilu
hehehehhehe

[tvmann]

The RIAA is not the government, it is just a trade association.

IMO the RIAA has no right to go after a DJ who puts material from underground (non-RIAA affiliated) producing artists in his mix. That is because they have no right to represent those artists without some kind of agreement with the artist. But no doubt the RIAA does have an agreement and the right to represent most music creators who have deals with record companies who would be RIAA members.

Also IMO a DJ does NOT have the right to even give away a mix CD containing material from others. That is because the law grants a copyright to the orginal artist of the songs or music. Only the original artist has the right to use his work or make copies. If a DJ or anyone else wants to use the artist's music in a mix CD, the DJ must get permission from the artist or the record company etc who has been assigned the right to the music. The original artists could seek a legal order or injunction to stop distribution of the mix CD, or sue the DJ for damages.

In reality DJ mix or demo CDs etc if given away or sold for a small amount are something the original artists turn a blind eye to, because they help promote the artists work. But technically speaking they are a violation of the copyright of the original artists.

If you see a commercial DJ compilation mix CD for sale at HMV etc for $20 or whatever, you can bet that the DJ or creator of the mix has got permission from the original music artists or their record companies, most probably involving a revenue sharing deal of some kind.
:smoke1:

[Sykonee]

This just seems to be an attempt to legitimize their attacks on 'net downloading. If they are going to go after all sources in the same legal gray area, then who's next? Pawn shops??

[e_BoY]

just stupid is all i can say. Fuck the RIAA

[Akeel]

4 words

"for promotional use only"

Its a strange coincidence, i was just talking to a guy that owns two labels and sells mixed mp3s that are unlicensed, he's actually contacted major labels and found the dont even care about that, only if you are actually pressing into a medium (cd, vinyl, etc) and selling it for profit. I doubt this will last though.

[AGROculture]

I remember when Socan made FWUH stop selling mix tapes mixed by Artists like Flipout, J-Swing and Kemo

Fawkers

[Matt Dublin]

about three years ago all of our record shops in Toronto selling mixtapes got raided and they confinscated thousands of mixtapes. The funny thing was that the only mixtapes they confinscated were the hip hop mixtapes. I believe the better hip hop mixtapes ala Baby Blue Sound Crew and Mastermind were selling around 10-15 thousand mixtapes everytime they came out with a new one. The major labels dont give a shit about electronic music. In fact they probably would be happier if electronica went away.

[djskidz]

Well, this whole mess has been created simply because some people believe patterns of air vibrations can be owned and others don't. To quote Moby (not exactly, but rather from my memory), "The belief that sound can be owned I find absurd. But I as an artist who creates sound and gets paid for doing so am in a position where I don't mind it. It's actually kinda nice that I can eat and raise a family because of this belief." The more one studies abstract modern art music, the more one starts to believe that copyrighting sound is absurd. There is a famous case in the states where a composer included a minute of scilence in his piece and got sued (successfully) from the family of John Cage for copyright infringement on Cage's 4'33". The fact that the makers of the electronica (producers) don't mind if others use and distribute their recordings would in normal situations be enough to absolve DJs of any infringements however because the producers have signed their rights away to the evil record companies, they truly have no say in the matter any more. Technically, the process of DJs spinning these records at public gatherings is also an infringement even in Canada and both the DJs and the promoters could be finned for this infringement if the enforcement agencies decided to do so. White labels and independently released records are however still under the control of the artists and thus in most cases are free to use however DJs want.