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INDIE NEWS BEAT
May 24, 2004 Edition
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Congressman Boucher Urges Protection Of Fair Use
* California Bill Would Send File-Sharer To Jail
* Indie Artist Radio Partners With Music Connection
* New Orf Web Site Kicks Off 2004 Festival
* Tshirthell.com Settles $15 Million Lawsuit With The Osbournes
* Lawsuit By Marilyn Manson Vs. Spooky Kids' Lunch Boxes & Choklit
Cows CD/DVD
* Limewire Launches New Version 4.0
* More CD Buyers Try Legal Digital Music Services
* Chris Burnett Quartet Performs At The 4th Annual Wine And Jazz
Festival
* Majority Of Youth Still Download Illegally Despite Understanding
'Copyright'
Congressman
Boucher Urges Protection Of Fair Use
 The
House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer
Protection today held a hearing on H.R. 107, the Digital Media Consumers'
Rights Act, a bill introduced by Congressman Rick Boucher which
would protect the "Fair Use" rights of the users of copyrighted
material and thereby enable consumers of digital media to make use
of it in ways which would enhance their personal convenience. Congressman
Boucher (VA-09) first introduced the legislation with Congressman
John Doolittle (CA-04) during the fall of 2002 and reintroduced
the bill at the beginning of the 108th Congress.
H.R.
107 addresses two key provisions of the 1998 law which prohibit
the circumvention of a technical protection measure guarding access
to a copyrighted work even if the purpose of the circumvention is
to exercise consumer Fair Use rights. First, the bill would limit
the scope of the prohibition to circumvention for the purpose of
copyright infringement. Circumvention for the purpose of exercising
Fair Use rights would be permitted under the legislation.
In
addition, the bill would also amend the provisions of the 1998 law
which prohibit the manufacture, distribution or sale of technology
which enables circumvention of the protection measures. Under the
current law, trafficking in those technologies is a crime if the
technology was primarily designed to be used for copyright infringement.
Since this legal standard is too subjective to give manufacturers
confidence to introduce new products, the legislation would instead
focus on whether or not the technology has substantial non-infringing
uses. If the technology is capable of substantial non-infringing
use, the manufacture, distribution, and sale of the product would
be lawful.
Source:
California
Bill Would Send File-Sharer To Jail
SB
1506, authored by Senator Kevin Murray (D - Los Angeles), received
strong, bipartisan support as the Senate approved the measure 33
- 0.
SB
1506 simply updates the law to apply to the most pervasive forum
for piracy - the Internet. The measure will help consumers and law
enforcement distinguish between legitimate works distributed on
the Internet and pirated works.
This
statute is a valuable tool for local and state law enforcement to
go after piracy and has become the model statute for other states
and other countries to combat piracy.
Violation
of the statute would be a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up
to $2500 and/or up to one year imprisonment. The penalties do not
apply to those distributing files to their immediate family or within
their home networks. A minor who violated the statute would have
to pay a fine of $250 for a first or second offense and a fine not
to exceed $1,000, imprisonment in a county jail, or both, for a
third or subsequent violation.
Source:
Indie
Artist Radio Partners With Music Connection
 Indie
Artist Radio has entered into an agreement with Music Connection
Magazine, making it possible for independent musicians to be seen
by more than 75,000 music fans, professionals, and industry leaders.
Indie
Artist Radio, part of the RadioDevil Group, is recognized as being
one of the top ten places for independent artists to be played and
heard. Their commitments to supporting indie artists rings loud
and clear with their newest feature, the Global Album Release Party.
The Global Album Release Party offers international exposure to
new releases with an "in your face" approach to promoting indie
artists.
Indie
Artist Radio's Director of Artist Affairs, Christopher LaGrone,
is very pleased about the new relationship with Music Connection
and says, "The whole concept of our Global Album Release Party started
as a means to provide the artist with many of the same resources
associated with major label releases. We've put a lot of effort
into enrolling music veterans to assist in the promotional aspects
of indie music."
"To
have a leading publication, such as Music Connection Magazine, contact
us to discuss additional promotional opportunities has us all very
excited. The fact that we can now offer the inclusion of a print
ad in a major magazine allows us to broaden the scope of attention,
for these artists, beyond the normal web and internet radio media
outlets."
Source:
New
Orf Web Site Kicks Off 2004 Festival
 The
Online Rock Festival has officially launched its newly designed
web site for the 2004 season. In addition to the new design, ORF
has also undergone some structural changes during the off-season.
This
year the festival will be organized and run by the non-profit organization
Agent15, whose ideals and motivations aptly complement those of
the independent music community. Ever since its conception in 2001,
ORF has experienced a progressively rapid growth in participation,
capacity, and support. With this year1s changes, 2004 promises to
yield the largest, most successful festival yet.
The
Online Rock Festival is an annual, Internet based music showcase
of independent rock bands. This event generates an unlikely mesh
of musicians from assorted countries, genres, economic capacity,
and creative ideals. The result is a unique, interactive community
of bands, jurors, and fans who share the task of awarding seven
groups with prizes provided by an array of sponsors.
Source:
Tshirthell.com
Settles $15 Million Lawsuit With The Osbournes
Tshirthell.com
reached an out of court settlement with Ozzy Osbourne and family.
The copyright infringement suit concerned a t-shirt with the phrase,
"F--- my family, I'm moving in with the Osbournes". Tshirthell.com
had initially sought 15 million dollars in damages.
Tshirthell.com
began selling the shirt in March of 2002. They claim that shortly
thereafter, $500 worth of the shirts were purchased by Osbourne's
record label. Soon after, Osbourne and his wife decided to manufacturer
t-shirts which were virtually identical to tshirthell.com's original
shirt with the similar phrase, "&@# my family! I'm moving in with...The
Osbourne Family", as well as an uncensored version.
The
suit alleged that the defendants, by manufacturing, distributing,
and merchandising the shirts were "engaging in unfair competition
and creating a likeness confusion," and causing "irreparable damages"
to Tshirthell.com.
Source:
Lawsuit
By Marilyn Manson Vs. Spooky Kids' Lunch Boxes & Choklit Cows CD/DVD
Goth-rock
superstar, Marilyn Manson (birth name Brian Warner) has filed a
lawsuit against a former member of his own original band "Marilyn
Manson & The Spooky Kids" it was confirmed today by Richard Wolfe,
legal representative for Florida-based Empire Musicwerks, the record
company named as a defendant in the suit. Empire Musicwerks recently
released the CD with companion DVD, Lunch Boxes & Choklit Cows by
The Spooky Kids, championed by former Spooky Kids/Marilyn Manson
guitar player and producer Scott Putesky.
Putesky
has recently been conducting media interviews touting the release
that impacted the sales charts in last week's "Billboard" magazine.
The suit was filed on behalf of Brian Warner, p/k/a Marilyn Manson
and Stephen Bier p/k/a (another member of Spooky Kids/Manson band
known as Madonna Wayne Gacy) against both Scott Putesky (who is
known as Daisy Berkowitz in Spooky Kids) and Empire Musicwerks as
the record label that released and is marketing the project. The
action was filed on April 28, 2004 in the United States District
Court in and for The Central District of California Western Division.
The
public document claims, among other things infringement of copyright,
unauthorized use of illustration, images and film footage. ÊManson
asked for cease and desist of sales of the CD Lunch Boxes & Choklit
Cows, return and destruction of all product and promotional materials,
and is claiming an estimated $500,000 in damages and asking for
other punitive damages and attorney costs.
Source:
Limewire
Launches New Version 4.0
 Lime
Wire LLC today announced the release of LimeWire 4.0, a superior
new file sharing application that offers users faster and more successful
downloads, improved searches for rare content, and a sleek new interface.
LimeWire 4.0 includes a guarantee that users will get no bundled
software when they download this new version, and as always, Lime
Wire continues its tradition of not utilizing spyware (software
which collect personal information that can be used in market research).
"One
of the biggest challenges in a file sharing network is in the ability
to locate rare content when a user searches for it," said Chief
Operating Officer Greg Bildson. "LimeWire 4.0 does a great job of
this with a powerful search engine under the hood. If it's out there,
LimeWire 4.0 will find it and with download innovations a user will
get the file faster than anywhere else."
Source:
More
CD Buyers Try Legal Digital Music Services
According
to the latest data from The NPD Group, an increasing number of CD
buyers are also purchasing from legal digital music download services,
such as iTunes, Buy.com and others. Legal digital music services
also appear to attract consumers who tend to purchase more CDs than
the average consumer. This comes at a time when fewer of these consumers
are using peer-to-peer (P2P) services to share music files illegally.
Just
under five percent of CD buyers reported using a legal service to
purchase music during the first quarter of 2004, which is nearly
three times the level NPD observed among music buyers during the
same period in 2003 (1.7 percent). Among music buyers who purchased
both physical CDs and a song download from a legal service, the
likelihood that they also downloaded a song illegally fell dramatically,
from 64 percent last year to 42 percent in 2004.
Subscription
services showed only a slight reduction in the number of CDs that
they purchased at retail. The average consumer who paid for digital
music as well as CDs purchased less than one fewer CD in 2003 compared
to 2002.
"Paid
services like iTunes and Rhapsody appear to be attracting core music
buyers, which can create a firm foundation for legal digital music
purchases," said Russ Crupnick, president of NPD Music. "To date,
NPD data shows that there has been a small reduction in sales of
CDs; however, that decline might be offset by the overall value
of the digital customer and the downturn in illegal file sharing."
Source:
Chris
Burnett Quartet Performs At The 4th Annual Wine And Jazz Festival
 ASR
Records recording artist, Chris Burnett, and his jazz ensemble,
Chris Burnett QUARTET, will present three shows during the 4th Annual
Wine and Jazz Festival held each year at the Elms Resort and Spa.
The
Chris Burnett Quartet performance at this event will be held on
Saturday, October 9, 2004 and will feature original compositions
and arrangements of familiar jazz repertoire by award winning composer
and the band's leader, Chris Burnett.
Mr.
Burnett began his professional performing career as a member of
US military jazz bands and returned home to his native Kansas City
area to perform in 2001. He has performed thousands of engagements
worldwide and even appeared on Italian television while a member
of the special NATO Band based at Naples, Italy. Chris Burnett QUARTET
debuted at the 2002 Roots Festival held at Paola, Kansas; and, was
the opening act for trumpet legend, Maynard Ferguson's, recent performance
in Kansas City. Burnett has one commercially released CD on the
market, and the group is currently preparing music for a new CD.
Source:
Majority
Of Youth Still Download Illegally Despite Understanding 'Copyright'
An
understanding of copyright law is not enough to stop kids from downloading
copyrighted software, games, music and other digital media through
illegal, online file-sharing networks, according to a new Harris
Interactive poll conducted for the Business Software Alliance (BSA).
A
majority of youth are aware that digital media files are copyrighted
(91 percent of young people are aware that books are copyrighted;
88 percent, movies; 88 percent, music; 86 percent, software; 83
percent, games and 64 percent, Web sites), yet many of them admit
to downloading files anyway. Just over half say they download music
(53 percent) and a third download games (32 percent), while fewer
kids say they download larger digital files such as commercial software
(22 percent) and movies (17 percent).
"Unfortunately,
many kids and teens continue to download copyrighted works illegally
even though more than half of them think there are laws against
downloading digital works," said Diane Smiroldo, vice president
of public affairs for BSA.
"What's
most alarming is that eight out of 10 kids and teens understand
the definition of copyright and nearly all of them, especially teens,
are aware that software, music and movies are protected by copyright.
The fact that kids know stealing software is wrong, and yet they
behave like it's okay, clearly illustrates a challenging ethical
dilemma."
Source:
 Provided
by the MusicDish
Network. Copyright © Tag
It 2004 - Republished with Permission
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