Buma/Stemra Changes Licensing Fees 2010

The all knowing, and all wise Dutch music copyright organisation BUMA/Stemra (BS, and yes, pun intended) decides to charge €130 (for copyright infringement) euros per embedded copyrighted file (do your own math). You are allowed 6 embedding violations/files for €130,00 (original pdf).
No need to mention that this caused a massive uproar in the (worldwide) blogosphere, news and politics.

The uproar made them them decide to allow embedding on personal (non-commercial) websites... But what defines personal / non-commercial?
Many enthusiasts run a website for which they pay (hosting services, whatever). A large portion of them use (Google) ads to 'earn' those costs back. The bigger the audience, the bigger the income (theoretically). In some cases even big enough to pay the hosting services (and a new gadget every once in a while).

Are these considered commercial? They do make (some) money, but they're not really a brand or an established corporation, let alone being able to make a living out of their income... Time will tell.

On a more personal note; I think it's complete bogus to charge (read: fine) the music fans this way. Embedding a piece of music is basically free publicity for a band. Which could result in additional fans, and more visitors at concerts. The problem is that more fans (visiting concerts) doesn't increase the revenue of organisations like BS/RIAA/etc.. These organisations are still trying to hold on to a income/revenue model which basically died with the introduction of the WorldWideWeb.

In the (really) old days, the musicians made their money with performing live on stage. Which is (in my opinion) the most decent way to make your money as an artist. Then came the records, cassettes, CD's etc. A relative easy way to make money. You can earn millions just by sitting on your ass.
I do think that for certain copyright areas a copyright should soften (or even expire) after a short number years. Kinda like patents, but then shorter.

In the mean time; you can enjoy this small excerpt from a Metallica concert earlier this year.

As a footnote; These copyright organisations should prosecute those who earn money with piracy (selling counterfeit CD's/DVD's etc. That's real crime. Being a fan isn't.

Posted on October 10, 2009 and filed under Annoying, Copyrights, News.