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This is the official stance of
K.A.P.A. (Karaoke Anti-Piracy Agency...essentially the
RIAA of the karaoke world) taken directly from their
website:
Q. If I own my own discs,
can I load them onto a hard drive to play them in a show,
etc.?
A. No, you MAY NOT load
songs from other manufacturers on your hard drive. The
licensing rights for music on a hard drive machine exist
only between the machine manufacturer and the music
provider. These rights do not extend to the owner of the
machine, to load songs from other manufacturers on the
hard drive player. Copying the discs on to a hard drive is
still copying the discs. Legally, it is absolutely no
different than burning a copy of the discs. In order to
copy your discs on to your hard drive, you have to have
the written permission of the company that produced the
discs and owns the copyrights.
On this page I will attempt
to convince you that format conversion should not be a
crime and that businesses should be allowed to convert a
phonorecord (That's the legal definition for a song) from
one format to another. I am not making a case for piracy,
the legitimacy of Peer to Peer networks, nor serial
copying, but rather the simple process of encoding a
compact disc to a compressed digital audio format like
MP3. With piracy and serial copying, the artist is not
paid for their work. With format conversion, it is assumed
the work being converted was legally purchased, and thus
the artist was paid his share of the royalties.
We'll begin with a little
bit of history on the DJ industry. When the DJ industry
first started, vinyl records were the most popular medium
for their performances. How ever, these were heavy and
easily damaged. Because of their weight and cost, many DJs
only brought a few hundred records to a performance and
much money was spent replacing records that hard worn out
or become scratched. While this was good for the record
industry, it was bad for consumers because it increased
the costs for the DJ which were then passed on to the
consumers. When the cassette tape was introduced, most
DJ's began using them instead because they were lighter
and more durable. It was impractical to copy records on to
cassette tape because the noise of the record (especially
if it was worn) combined with the tape noise made for a
poor quality recording. While tapes were more durable than
records, they too wore out. Again, this was good for the
recording industry because it meant that DJs would have to
purchase the same record they already owned in the
cassette format. Of course, this cost was passed onto the
consumers through higher prices charged by DJs. When the
CD came out, DJs switched formats again. They now had a
digital medium that wouldn't wear out no matter how many
times it was played. It weighed less than a tape, and it
offered the ability to find a particular track as quickly
as DJs used to be able to with vinyl records. Now instead
of bringing a few hundred records, or several hundred
cassettes, DJs could bring one or two thousand CDs. This
meant DJs had a consistent product and a wider selection
of music than a band, so not surprisingly DJs are now the
entertainment of choice at weddings and parties.
Now enter compressed
digital audio. Most people are familiar with MP3, so I
will use that term in place of compressed digital audio,
however most DJs use other better compression formats than
MP3. With the MP3 format, DJs can store not just one or
two thousand CDs worth of music, but hundreds of thousands
of CDs. Since MP3's are digital, they never wear out, and
because they reside on a computer hard disk, they never
get scratched. In 50 years they will sound the same as
they do today. They take up less room because they are
inside the PC, and not spread out on a 3 foot by 6 foot
table. They are lighter because they are not a physical
"thing". And since computers are really great at
sorting information, requested music can be found
instantly by the DJ instead of forcing him to search
through thousands of CDs to find that one particular CD
that has that one requested song. Compressed audio is a
godsend for the DJ because it means he never has to
replace a disc/cassette/record, he has less to carry, he
can offer the widest selection of music possible, and
reduce his cost. This is great for consumers because lower
costs mean lower prices.
Some argue that compressed
audio does not have the same sound quality as a CD, and I
have to agree. However, it takes a very good ear and a
good set of speakers to detect a difference between a high
quality digital encoding and a CD. In a large hall filled
with celebrating people the two are indistinguishable.
Further, I would point out that CDs do not sound as good
as a high quality analog recording like a vinyl record,
but the public still embraced compact discs with open
arms. The public seem quite happy with a good recording
that is more durable than a great recording that degrades.
Unfortunately, as with
every invention that threatens the status quo, it is
illegal. Currently disc jockeys who convert a CD to
another format (including another CD) are breaking
copyright law because such a conversion is not considered
"Fair Use". The courts use four factors set
forth in section 107 of the Copyright Law to determine if
a use is "Fair Use":
1. The purpose and
character of the use, including whether such use is of a
commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational
purposes.
2. The nature of the
copyrighted work.
3. The amount and
substantiality of the portion used in relation to the
copyrighted work as a whole.
4. The effect of the use
upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted
work.
In the case of Disk
Jockeys, the questions would be answered as such:
1. Commercial use for
private performance. It is a private performance because
Joe Public can't simply walk into Jane Doe's wedding
without an invitation, nor can he attend ACME Corp.'s
company Christmas party unless he works there, but because
the disc jockey is charging for his service, it is a
commercial use.
2. The nature of the
copyrighted material is a creative work. Creative works
typically afforded a more restrictive definition of Fair
Use than informational works like dictionaries and
encyclopedias.
3. The entire work is used
in the format conversion process. This should be seen as a
plus, since the disc jockey is not altering the work in
any way. The DJ is faithfully reproducing the entire work
as intended by the artist.
4. The effect of this
conversion increases the potential market for and the
value of the copyrighted work. By allowing disc jockeys to
convert formats, they will be able to carry more music to
a performance, and potentially bring the artist more fans
and ultimately more fame and money.
To add this all up, the
fact that it is commercial use of a creative work argues
against fair use, but the fact that the entire work is
used and its use potentially increases the market for the
artist should outweigh the negatives. The fact that it is
a private performance is fairly neutral.
Another reason it is
illegal is because the CD is not consumed during the
process of conversion, so by nature of the process one is
left with 2 copies of the recording instead of the one
that was purchased. In theory the DJ should pay for that
second copy. Unfortunately, no method for paying for this
second copy is available, and since many DJs would rather
have the music in digital format than CD format you would
find them selling the CD after making the conversion which
would hurt record sales even more since you would now have
a glut of discs flooding an already battered market. This
would be legal if the DJ were forced to pay for the copy,
as the original CDs carry the Right of First Sale (which
means you can sell it at a garage sale, sell it on eBay,
or trade it in at a used music store). Having the DJ pay
for the created copy would imply its legitimacy as a legal
copy in and of itself, and thereby imply the Right of
First Sale to it as well.
"What can I do about
this?"
If like me you feel that
the music industry is trampling your rights, contact your
state senators and representatives and let them know that
your vote is more important than the money they get from
the music industry's special interest groups.
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About
The Author
Tim
Smith is the owner of By Request DJ &
Karaoke Company and has worked towards
getting US disc jockeys the right to use
compressed digital audio since it became
legal in Canada. |
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