_Tarkus_'s Last.fm Journal

Court rejects RIAA's 'making available' piracy argument

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 14:09:43 +0000

April 29, 2008 6:45 PM PDT

Court rejects RIAA's 'making available' piracy argument

Posted by Steven Musil

The recording industry's music piracy fight was dealt a setback Tuesday when a federal judge rejected the RIAA's "making available" argument in a lawsuit against a husband and wife accused of copyright infringement.

In Atlantic v. Howell, Judge Neil V. Wake denied the labels' motion for summary judgment in a 17-page decision (PDF), allowing the suit to proceed to trial. The argument--that merely the act of making music files available for download constituted copyright infringement--has been the basis for the Recording Industry Association of America's legal battle against online music piracy.

The RIAA sued husband and wife Pamela and Jeffrey Howell for copyright infringement in 2006, claiming the couple had used Kazaa to make copyrighted files available for download. In a deposition, Jeffrey Howell admitted loading the file-sharing software onto his computer and that the songs listed in the complaint were for personal use but that he had not placed the files in the program's shared folder. He said that the recordings were copies made from CDs he owned placed on the computer for personal use and not copies downloaded from Kazaa.

He also argued that that he was not the one sharing the files, but that it was the computer that was sharing the files.

While the couple lacks legal representation, the Electronic Frontier Foundation said it filed an amicus brief on behalf of the couple (PDF). The EFF argued against the RIAA's "making available" position, saying in a statement that it "amounts to suing someone for attempted distribution, something the Copyright Act has never recognized."

Judge Wake apparently agreed with that position.

"The court agrees with the great weight of authority that section 106(3) is not violated unless the defendant has actually distributed an unauthorized copy of the work to a member of the public," wrote the judge in his order. "Merely making an unauthorized copy of a copyrighted work available to the public does not violate a copyright holder's exclusive right of distribution."

The EFF called the order the "most decisive rejection yet of the recording industry's 'making available' theory of infringement."

Witch - Paralyzed due March 18!

Sun, 27 Jan 2008 07:15:31 +0000

From Witch's MySpace page:

'Paralyzed' out March 18, 2008 on Tee Pee Records.... Witch is no 'indie metal super-group' or side project. To prescribe such journalistic stigmas would be to underestimate the commitment of Witch's members. After their self-titled debut in 2006, Witch returned to the studio to work on their sophomore album, 'Paralyzed'. The new album, to be released this spring on Tee Pee Records, remains true to the classic heavy rock sound of the first, but has evolved as the band has learned to play to each other's strengths. The Vermont/Western Mass based band's new songs highlight the rhythm section of Dave Sweetapple (bass) and J Mascis (drums) who return to their punk roots and attack with a more aggressive tempo. This foundation allows Kyle Thomas (guitar/vocals) to construct wailing vertical melodies of guitar and sinister vocals. Witch has turned out a record that burns with hostility, like the track, 'Mutated', but also smolders with intensity, like the track 'Sweet Sue'. The collective deviating influences of the group have more presence on this record than the last; experimentation in studio with different tonal effects to obtain a more diverse sound are evidenced in the guitar play of Kyle Thomas over the roaring backbeats provided by Sweetapple and Mascis. It is the time that the band spends not being a band that seems to have allowed their sound to grow. Kyle points out that the band 'does not practice and barely ever play shows'. This has allowed the chemistry and music to grow organically and a bit more spontaneously. Live, the music morphs into a beast of its own instead of sounding like a CD on playback. J Mascis mans the kit with a punk like fervor this time around; according to Mascis 'I know I'm not the only one who thinks 28" is the right size bass drum.' Kyle decided to adapt his songwriting approach to J's drum playing. Kyle explained how some of the more punk songs came about, 'J plays drums with a lot of energy, so I decided that instead of writing slow songs and having them speed up when we play them live, I should just write faster songs.' At the heart of the album is still the heaviness that dominated the last record, this time though Witch is creating a style more their own. The exciting part Kyle feels for the band and fans is that 'they are still developing a sound that fully hasn't shown itself.' To lay down the initial foundation of the album the band headed out to J's Bisquiteen Studio in Amherst, MA, final mixing would occur here as well. The bulk of recording was done at Bank Row Studio in Greenfield, MA, with Justin Pizzoferrato, who engineered and mixed the album with Witch.

Last.FM Has a First With Streaming Music

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 06:50:14 +0000

By Saul Hansell

CBS has become the first company to create what is clearly the future of music online: a site where you can listen to any song you want free, supported by advertising. The company is doing that with the latest version of Last.FM, the online radio site it bought last year. (Press release here.)

Unlike so many music services, this appears to be simple in the way that users would want. Go to the last.fm site. Search for an artist. Click on a song. Listen. See an ad on the screen.

CBS is perhaps in a better position to offer a service like this than a startup, as it has major relationships with music labels through its radio unit and relationships with big advertisers as well.

The labels, however, insisted on one significant limitation: Each user can listen to any track no more than three times. Quincy Smith, the president of CBS’s digital unit, said the company is working with the labels to extend this limit. For people who particularly like a song, Last.FM will link users to Apple’s iTunes, Amazon.com and others.

The site has rights to 3.5 million tracks from the big four major labels, and sites that have gathered music from independent labels. It will also be open to unsigned bands, who will be given a share of the advertising revenue associated with their songs.

In concept, this is similar to what is being offered by Imeem, the social network. But the Last.FM user experience is much more simple. Imeem only has tracks that its users upload, so it is not comprehensive.

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/23/lastfm-is-first-with-streaming-music-users-choose/?ref=technology

Emerson, Lake & Palmer

Sun, 20 Jan 2008 05:53:37 +0000

progressive rock pioneers, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, deserve a group worthy of their status.

They have had a group here for awhile, but it's been abandoned and is pretty much dead.

Well now there is an all new group for ELP fans, the Emerson, Lake & Palmer group. Yes, it's even grammatically correct. ;)

This group promises to be the place for ELP fans to hang out on Last.fm, so please, if you're a fan, I welcome you with open arms!

Duckman Coming to DVD!

Sat, 5 Jan 2008 23:55:46 +0000

Duckman Coming to DVD!

This is easily one of my top-five favorite shows of all time, and I've been waiting a long time for this announcement. I'm so excited, money will be no object in this case!

Self-Titled Album and Track

Fri, 28 Dec 2007 03:25:23 +0000

This is a sequel to a journal written on my previous account here.

To recap, I was listening to Black Sabbath, and it struck me as odd that they had not only an album, but a track named after themselves.

So the point of this exercise is to discover other artists that have done the same. Here is what I have so far:

Abydos - Abydos - Abydos

Angel Witch - Angel Witch - Angel Witch

Animations - Animations - Animations

Bad Company - Bad Company - Bad Company

Bad Religion - Bad Religion - Bad Religion

Blackfield - Blackfield - Blackfield

Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath

Cloven Hoof - Cloven Hoof - Cloven Hoof

Deicide - Deicide - Deicide

Eisbrecher - Eisbrecher - Eisbrecher

Go Four 3 - Go Four 3 - Go Four 3

Grand Magus - Grand Magus - Grand Magus

Hellyeah - HELLYEAH - Hellyeah

Horizon 8 - Horizon 8 - Horizon 8

Iced Earth - Iced Earth - Iced Earth

Iron Maiden - Iron Maiden - Iron Maiden

The Jelly Jam - The Jelly Jam - The Jelly Jam

Krux - Krux - Krux

Living In A Box - Living In A Box - Living In A Box

Lucifer's Friend - Lucifer's Friend - Lucifer's Friend

Lunatic Soul - Lunatic Soul - Lunatic Soul

Metal Church - Metal Church - Metal Church

Minor Threat - Minor Threat - Minor Threat

Motorhead - Motorhead - Motorhead

Rain Tree Crow - Rain Tree Crow - Rain Tree Crow

Return To Forever - Return To Forever - Return To Forever

Sledgehammer - Sledgehammer - Sledgehammer

Slowdive - Slowdive - Slowdive

Soulfly - Soulfly - Soulfly

The Storyteller - The Storyteller - The Storyteller

They Might Be Giants - They Might Be Giants - They Might Be Giants

This Light - This Light - This light

Train - Train - Train

Triangle Theory - Triangle Theory - Triangle Theory

Victor - Victor - Victor

Special thanks to gary_lankford, le_hamster, higginz, gotroot801, AuToBaNd, Loefster, CrazyChris576, retuow, alfvaen and ac196nataku for their contributions to the original journal.