Prey for the music industry
Universal Music Group is making noises that sound like they're going to sue YouTube (and maybe MySpace).
The issue is the hoary old issue of intellectual property. Some of the millions of videos that YouTube hosts contain copyrighted music in the background (most of them, actually). UMG's position is similar to that of other vulture distribution companies: they want every usage of the works to be either paid for or discontinued.
I say "vulture", because I have very little respect for the middlemen in the Entertainment industry. As technology continues disintermediating the distribution channels, the music companies use every trick at their disposal to cling on to their meal. The usual technique is lawyers. In America, if you have more money than the other guy, you beat him about the head with lawyers. It's okay, hit harder, it might do some good and the lawyer likes it.
A judgement day is coming for this issue of fair use. If UMG and others have their way, the whole idea of user-generated content that is currently firing up the Web will disappear. The chilling effect of being sued by some bloated conglomerate for using a couple of minutes of a Whitesnake song in a home video is enough to encourage most people to desert from the digital revolution before it really starts.
We need a new model. Fair use needs to be redefined to reflect the reality of consumer electronics and today's Internet. The DMCA needs to be rewritten.
Congress should address this issue, but will not. Unfortunately there are no highly paid lobbyists on K street that have "The People" on their business cards.
Posted on September 15, 2006
