History of bootlegging Essay

1. Background on Bootlegging It has been said that at its real level practice of medicine belongs to every unrivalled. To claim self-possession over medicine has been the subject of much analysis since medicinal drug, after all, is available to each individualist through and through our sense of hearing. Maintaining control or possession of our music is non as clear cut as meting out our rights to our land or property. To listen to a song some peerless else has written, for instance, does not necessarily stool stealing or trespassing on someone elses property.The exceed way to ensure our right and title over our musical creations is to bugger off a procure over the authoritative piece. Yet it is not anomalous for a listener or a music lover or fan to scan a favorite song or a p fine articularly memorable concert attended. People record songs, concerts, and videos and keep much(prenominal) records for individualised use, or make copies thereof to give to their friends. Songs and videos atomic number 18 in any case easily downloaded from the Internet. Fans overly record different songs and performances, from different albums or concerts, into one CD or online play list to make their own personal collection.The problem is when much(prenominal) recordings are distributed and sold for profit without the operative and the record companys consent. Generally, procure violations involving musical creations whitethorn be tell apart into tether different types 1) professional counterfeit recordings ( unlicenced extra of sound and art lay down) 2) professional pirate recordings (unauthorized duplication of the sound, but with original art work, commonly sold as greatest hits compilations 3) bootleg recordings (unauthorized recording of live performances)Bootlegging, as it was traditionally defined, involves the illegal distribution or production of liquor and anformer(a)(prenominal) highly taxed goods In the 1920s, the United States had a Proh ibition against alcohol, thus volume resorted to bootlegging, or buying and selling an illegal product, from bootleggers. Organized crime consisting of gangs and mobsters in Chicago and New York, such as Al Capone, were deeply twisty in bootlegging. In the music industry, music bootlegging involves the taking and barter of unauthorized live recordings of live musical performers either from concert or studio outtakes.Bootleg music albums are recordings transferred from tape to vinyl or CD. They become a bootleg product when a bootlegger undertakes to execute an artifact or when a non- moneymaking(prenominal) recording is transformed into a commercial-grade product in the form of an LP or a CD. Bootleg recordings are usually done without the artists consent however, making a recording of a concert is not illegal per se. Although an individual cannot lawfully record an officially release CD or cassette tape on to a blank tape, he or she may make an unauthorized recording of a concert and keep it for personal use. However, the sale of such a recording is deemed illegal.The problems with bootlegging is that it pr veritable(a)ts the artist and the record company from maintaining timber control over their product , and it prevents them from collecting their royalties to their right to their music.2. Changes in copyright Laws right of first normalation is defined as a form of nurseion provided by the laws of the United States (title 17, U. S. Code) to the authors of original works of authorship . The U. S. has passed significant copyright laws to protect an artists right to his or her original creations. These creations include not only musical works, but literary, dramatic, artistic and certain intellectual creations.The U. S. geological formation itself provides that the Congress shall have power to promote the progress of science and helpful arts, by securing for control times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective books a nd discoveries. The State thus allows Congress to pass copyright laws to protect an artists rights to his or her musical creations. The U. S. secure Act was amended in 1976 so that it now covers new technological advancements and extended the term of safeguard to cover the life of the author plus 70 more years.Copyright laws allow the author, artist, or whoever holds the copyright to a creation to sue those who negate on their copyrights for damages. The complainant has to prove irreverence of copyright by a) proving ownership of the copyright and b) copying by the infringer-defendant. In compliance with its Constitutional decree of protecting original works of authorship, the Congress has passed several laws concerning music copyright infringement, plagiarism and bootlegging. Some of the relevant laws will be discussed in this section. The audio recording recording Home Recording Act allows music retailers to sell all elongate and digital recording formats.It overly give s a consumer the right to use such recordings provided such use is for non-commercial purposes, and in such cases, no copyright infringement lawsuit may be brought against a consumer. The consumer and retailer is also salvage from making royalty payments on digital audio recording devices and media the impression falls on U. S. manufacturers and importers only who must pay for digital audio devices designed or marketed primarily for making digital audio recordings for hidden use, whether or not these are incorporated in some other device.These royalty payments are administered and monitored by the U. S. Register of Copyrights and the Librarian of Congress, with the proceeds differentiate between the featured artists and the record company, or between the songwriters and music publishers, depending on the circumstances. Musical artists or musicians thus receive royalties which are based on record sales and airplay during a prescribed period. The U. S. is also a signatory of both the World Intellectual Property Organization Copyright accordance and the Performances and Phonograms Treaty.In accordance with these international agreements, the U. S.Congress passed the Digital Millennium Copyright Act which makes it a crime to a crime to circumvent anti-piracy measures strengthened into many of todays commercial software and even roughly music CDs. The Act also limits the copyright infringement liability of ISPs for transmission information over the Internet, but requires that ISPs remove copyright infringement actuals appoint in users web sites.Despite legislative acts and proposed bills by well implication members of the U. S. Congress, and jurisprudence laid down by the U. S. Supreme Court, infringers still uprise a way of getting around copyright laws by invoking the exquisite use doctrine. The U.S. Code provides that the public is entitled to the fair use of procure satisfying. Fair use is a privilege to use copyrighted material in a reasonable manner without consent, notwithstanding the copyright monopoly given to the owner. A copyrighted original creation may be catd for purposes of criticism, news program reporting, comment, teaching, scholarship and research.The Code further provides that there are four factors in determining whether there is fair use of a copyrighted material or not 1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes ) the nature of the copyrighted work itself 3) the proportion and substantiality of the copyrighted work actually used without part 4) the potential economic detriment on the value of the work caused by such unauthorized use thereof. What makes it especially unenviable to enforce the copyright is that information is so readily available through the Internet. As music is downloaded courtesy of digital technology, consumers are turning to the Internet to get their music rather than going out to music st ores to buy the CDs. Bootlegged albums are also easily transmitted and characterd through the Internet.Digital technology allows consumer to reproduce identical copies of digital music files, most commonly in compressing formats such as MP3s. Such digital advancements not only pave the way for more widespread bootlegging, but for music piracy as well.3. Advancements in Piracy Technology File Sharing Piracy, as introductory discussed, is differentiated from bootlegging in that the former involve the unauthorized duplication of the sound, but with original art work. Piracy involves the reproduction and distribution of copies of original recordings. Advancements in digital technology have allowed music piracy to direct at an alarming rate.MP3s enable consumers to compress digitized music into smaller files, term ripping software allows them to copy music from CDs, store these on their sturdy drives, and then convert these files into compressed formats. Digital file reproduction d evices, corresponding CD players, in turn allow consumers to write these files into a CD and in effect create their own albums and compilations of copyrighted creations. Peer-to-peer (P2P) networks have also allowed increased music dissemination, as well as file sharing, as introduced by the infamous Napster software company.P2P networks basically offer users to access the securely drives of other users anywhere in the world by the installation of a piece of software. These networks allow users to search, copy and transfer music files typically through MP3 files. After Napster, subsequent P2P networks version, like KaZaA and Grokstar, which are collectively known as the FastTrack providers, allow users to access multiple individual computers instead of accessing just one single, centralized database of music files.The digital audio workstation (DAW) on the other hand, allows users to frustrate in sampling original music recordings, converted from analog to digital format, which users can import, cut, copy, layer and manipulate to create new musical work. Since samples may be in a bands entire song, or merely passages from an instrument, in effect it allows not just users but even musicians and DJs to create, layer, expand and redefine music. Recording companies have resorted to copy-protection technology to protect themselves from piracy committed through file sharing and P2P networks.Copy-protected CDs is one answer, but public backlash and concerns about the technologys effectiveness, have forced recording companies to limit use of such CDs in the U. S. and instead opted to release such CDs abroad in Europe and countries such as Japan. Five major recording companies in the U. S. use copy-protected CDs BMG Entertainment, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, EMI, and Sony. BMG in particular has made us of copy-protection advancements such the MediaMax CD-3 technology from SunnComm Technologies, Inc. located in Phoenix, Arizona. Through MediaMax CD-3 , each song is written onto a CD twice. mavin format is readable by standard CD players while the other format is readable as a Windows media file playable on a computer. The technology allows consumers of BMG records to burn each track only three times per computer. The songs in BMG albums embedded with the MediaMax CD-3 technology may also be emailed to a limited number of people. However, each person in that limited list may only listen to ten times to each song in the album. In other words, songs in such CDs are locked and wont be played even if they are downloaded from file-sharing networks if it exceeds the deductible number of times a person may listen to the track. another(prenominal) developments are even more rigid. The CDS-300 developed by Macrovision, located in Santa Clara, California, allows CDs to be burnt and listened to online, but blocks other attempts to make copies or share music online. Recording companies thus are faced with a difficult balancing act. On the o ne hand, there is the need to respect a consumers desire to share, copy and hear songs in different ways. only if on the other hand, there is the copyright to take note of and the git line earning revenues through royalties by limiting the number of copies consumers make of copyrighted musical creations.