The Downside of Downloads
The news cycle has been abuzz about digital music and iTunes‘ ascendance to a position as the country’s leading music retailer. Likewise, the mainstream press has continued to feed its desire for an iTunes-Amazon.com octagon-style retail death match, and steadily has been promoting Amazon.com’s mp3 download service as a worthy challenger to the iTunes hegemony.
(The music labels, long irritated with Steve Jobs‘ control of the legal download market, silently would approve of such a challenge.)
We don’t see what the big deal is. There are several problems with music downloads, and none of them have anything to do with three-letter acronyms that purport to “protect” the underlying content. The primary problem with downloaded music is that it sucks.
Frosty Freeze
Wayne Frost, known in the hip hop world as Frosty Freeze, died April 3 in New York City. He was 44 years years old.
For decades, Frost had been a member of the seminal break dance troupe Rock Steady Crew, which formed in the Bronx in 1977. People unfamiliar with hip hop instead may remember him as one of the break dancers whose routine became part of the penultimate performance for Jennifer Beals’ character in the 1983 film Flashdance.
More details about Frost’s life and performances are available in a New York Times obituary.
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On Its Birthday, Superman Returns to Papa
Right before the Man of Steel celebrates its 70th birthday, a federal court judge has ruled (.pdf) that the heirs of Superman co-creator Jerome Siegel could claim an ownership share of the character’s domestic copyright. The ruling vests in Siegel’s heirs ownership in the first Superman comic, Detective Comics’ Action Comics No. 1.
Wikipedia has informative biographies for Siegel and his partner, Joseph Shuster, while William Patry (whose work the opinion cites 14 times) provides additional analysis and insight. The case centered on whether Siegel’s estate successfully had terminated the copyright pursuant to Section 304(c).
Siegel and Shuster sold the rights to the comic 70 years ago for $130 (or $14814.32 in today’s money). In comparison, Warner Bros. collected more than $200 million in domestic box office for the 2006 film Superman Returns. This total excludes ancillary (and lucrative) licensing income from all manner of tchotchkes from T-shirts to lunch boxes.
What immediately struck us was the diligence of Siegel’s estate in pursuing this issue. We compare this to the untidy, legally chaotic, and “deplorable” condition of the James Brown estate, which owes $400,000 in taxes and needs to sell memorabilia to preserve its assets.
Michael Cieply. Ruling Gives Heirs a Share of Superman Copyright. The New York Times. March 29, 2008.
See also:
Joy Howe. James Brown’s Estate To Be Sold. WJBF-TV (Augusta, Ga.) Feb. 29, 2008.
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Pause for the Cause
Due to an unusually heavy past few weeks, we have been unable to post in the manner to which you (and we) have become accustomed. We promise to return to regular coverage as soon as possible.
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America’s Lagging Broadband Access
Educause. A Blueprint for Big Broadband. (.pdf) January 2008. America’s standing in global broadband access and speed continues to plummet, and American consumers continue to pay more per capita for slower and less available broadband. (See data from the Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development for more information.) Educause blames America’s position on this country’s lack of a national broadband policy. (Foreign Affairs magazine addressed this issue in late spring 2005.)
Educause commissioned a white paper paper that proposes creating a Universal Broadband Fund (UBF) that will provide “open, big broadband networks of at least 100 Mbps … to every home and business by 2012.” Educause estimates the cost for this effort will approach $100 billion, but the organization proposes a public‐private partnership approach followed in Canada.
Why is this important? Simply, without widely available broadband in the States, all measure of technological innovation gets hampered. Hampered technological development means a slower economy; a slower economy means fewer jobs; fewer jobs means more unemployment; more unemployment means … well, you get the idea.
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Site Check 2.04
Primer on Copyright Liability and Fair Use. A quick and dirty guide on copyright provided by the Citizen Media Law Project. Categories: Bundle of Rights; Fair Use & Other Exceptions.
Music Download Warning List. The Center for Democracy & Technology publishes a list of Web sites that promise lots of music, but deliver much less because the sites don’t have the proper licenses to offer the music to the public. Categories: Licensing & Permissions; Music; Web & Online
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Sweden’s Action Against Pirate Bay
Anna Ringstrom. Sweden to Charge Pirate Bay in Copyright Case. Yahoo! News. Jan. 28, 2008. Sweden’s involvement in enforcement efforts on the entertainment industry’s behalf is related directly to the Special 301 process and Sweden’s fear of being placed on a priority list (penalties for which include trade sanctions).
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