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by Alyssa Brown
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Music Industry Struggles With Piracy
Peter Gardner and Chris Takano browse iTunes, a legal music-sharing network that allows MBC students to listen to but not download each other's songs. --Laurie Bills, photo
"Whose CD is this?" your friend asks. "It's really good."
"I don't know who the artist is," you say. "I got it from a friend."
"Didn't he know?"
"Nope. He got it from his cousin who sent it to him over Instant Messenger."
"Well, can you make me a copy?" your friend says.
"Sure," you say.
Burning copies of CDs, downloading music off the Internet and sharing songs over Instant Messenger are a few of the new technologies that enable music enthusiasts to find music for free.
Copying friends' music and downloading free songs with no thought to the ramifications may be tempting, but situations such as the one just mentioned raise numerous questions:
- How should Christians approach the issue of music downloading?
- Does getting music for free or copying it for friends hurt anyone?
- What is and isn't legal in music downloading and sharing?
The repercussions
Many students argue that getting their music for free online or from friends hurts no one and that music should be free. Although music may have been free in the Renaissance when musicians had patrons, now the money listeners provide at concerts and in exchange for CDs is necessary for the survival of the industry."The music industry looks toward young people for their bread and butter," Caleb Miles, manager of local music retailer Music Millennium, said. "If they can get music for free instead of paying for it, they will."
Independent music retailers seem to be the hardest hit by the shift to accessing music online. Wherehouse Entertainment once had 405 stores in the United States, and Tower Records had 215. Both have declared bankruptcy since 2002.
"Online downloading spells the demise of the record store," Mr. Miles said. To counteract the sales decline, retailers have lowered CD prices.
Mr. Miles sees online downloading as an asset to less well-known musicians because their music becomes available all over the world.
Unfortunately some of the less conspicuous artists' best music is copied and passed around so much that although thousands of people are enjoying their songs, few people know the artists' names. The artists get no money from this illegal sharing, making producing any more music financially difficult.
"I don't think going around busting kids on college campuses is going to make a difference," Mr. Miles said. "It's ultimately up to the individual to decide, but it affects the artist and their local stores."
The responsibility
When a friend asks you for a copy of his favorite CD, rationalizing burning one can be tempting.
You can only legally copy music files you have bought, and those copies can only be for your personal use. Any form of distributing music for which you do not own the copyright is illegal.
"It's never bothered me if people make copies and give them to friends," Michael Card, who has been in the music industry for 23 years, said. "You have to decide at some point that if the content of your music is the gospel, even if people steal it, you have to be glad they're hearing it."
However, Mr. Card said he feels Christians need to respect the law. "Certainly you don't want to encourage people to do something wrong. If it's against the law, you don't do it, period," he said.
Dr. Wayne Strickland, academic dean, said, "Whether you agree with it or not, it's illegal. We are exhorted by scripture to obey the laws of the land. [Those who download illegally] are in violation of what God has commanded them to do."
The risk
The Recording Industry Association of America, an organization that protects the rights of record companies, artists and copyright owners, has filed suit against companies such as Grokster and Kazaa for facilitating peer-to-peer music sharing over the Internet.
The association also has targeted downloaders who make money off of their copies or make more than $1,000 worth of music available to others for downloading. In the last year, music companies and the association have sued almost 5,000 music downloaders. The purpose of the suits is not to get revenge, the association said, but to make illegal downloading less appealing because of the risk of being caught and prosecuted.
Much is being done to encourage legal downloading. Napster has resurrected as a legal download provider, now contracting with colleges to provide an inexpensive and legal alternative to piracy. The University of Miami was among the first universities to provide students with Napster's services. The university pays a fee to Napster, and the service pays royalties to the copyright holders of the music. Students can listen to hundreds of thousands of songs legally and download tracks for 99 cents each.
The cost of contracts with companies like Napster, Real Network's Rhapsody and Ctrax can be prohibitive, but according to the Recording Industry Association of America 80 percent of students like the services, and often buy CDs after hearing music from them on the network.
Dr. Wayne Strickland said the Student Services department at MBC considered such an arrangement for students, but decided against it. "We want students who can make right decisions," he said, "We don't want to have to take away the wrong choices, we want them to be spiritually mature enough to use good judgement."
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