More copyright complaints

Free Republic | April 8, 2004 | Jim Robinson

[spodefly]

So the excerpt of the initial paragraphs of the article gets posted, as is currently the case. Comments can also contain excerpts from various paragraphs on which posters wish to make a point. Ultimately the bulk of the article, or at least the salient points, are recorded here verbatim. Edits to the source archives will still be evident upon comparison.

This will force the need for us to be more disciplined in how we excerpt important paragraphs in our individual posts, but beyond that, this is not an issue.

I have no doubts that the sudden surge of excerpt complaints is due to the actions of "progressive, tolerant, freedom-loving, patriotic, open-minded" individuals contacting these newspapers and complaining about FR not excerpting.

[Dan from Michigan]

You might want to consider hiring a clever corporate lawyer to chop up Free Republic, LLC, into multiple entities such that the company that is actually hosting the forum has no assets or equipment.

Good idea. Another idea is to make sure almost everything is in trust.

[Triple Word Score]

I wonder if the software could be set to check, say, every 100 or 200 responses, to see if the original article linked has been changed, and post that fact in the thread. If a topic doesn't generate that much interest, we probably wouldn't care much if the primary source changed anyway.

I have no idea what I'm asking, of course; I haven't really understood what computers do since my husband took DOS off my machine and put this Windows cr*d on it.

[Reagan Man]

>>> I don't know if this is do-able, but it is worth checking out...

Let's call Richard Ben-Veniste. He'll know what to do. ;^)

[Triple Word Score]

The ...butcher's aprons.

You tell me, does it work? ;-)

[little jeremiah]

As far as the websites that require passwords and registration, maybe whoever posts the excerpted article can also post (in the first reply) the password he used so others who are not registered can view the article in its entirety.

[Indy Pendance]

What a smarmy POS.

[jpsb]

This is something I know a little about, most bars lose money on most bands. The exceptions being the big night clubs. Where I live if the bar has 30 people in it they are packed. A good 3 piece band will cost the bar 300+. At 2 bucks a beer the bar has to sell 150 beers just to cover he cost of the band. Then another 100 beers to cover the cost of the beer. That's 250 beers and that doesnt count the over head of running a bar or the help. Now selling 250 beers to a crowd of 30 or 40 people ain;t easy. yea the crowd changes over time but it is still a lot of beer to sell. And if the band sucks you are screwed.

[Chad Fairbanks]

Here's an interesting explanation for it that I found that makes sense to me...

A business that uses music as part of its normal profit making operations, whether it be a bar, a live music club, a restaurant, a hotel, a TV station, a bowling alley, a greyhound bus, a country club, a radio station, a web site, whatever; they must accept a music licensing fee as a basic operational cost. Think about it – you’re a bar owner making money from selling food and alcohol to patrons who either come to hear music or enjoy an atmosphere greatly enhanced by a live band, a CD, the radio, TV, etc. You don’t steal the kegs out of the beer distributor’s truck and then sit back and sell the pints for pure profit (admittedly not an exact analogy, but applicable nonetheless). ASCAP's licensing fees are based on a fair weighting formula and can sometimes negotiated depending on mitigating circumstances. The vast majority of music users find the fees completely reasonable and an inconsequential cost compared to other expenses that they incur through their daily business operations.

[Reagan Man]

Typical lowlife scum of the earth.

[pending]

that works for me...

[supercat]

...and if I'm not mistaken, that probably covers their canned house music, too.

There are two specific statutory exemptions from payment for house music:

• If a business has radios or television receivers that play broadcast material, and if the sound or picture from those receivers is not relayed to multiple speakers or screens, and if no admission is charged for the business, then no royalties are due to the providers of the radio or television content.
• A business which is a bona fide seller of prerecorded music may play for customers the recordings which it offers for sale, either on an individual basis or via a house sound system. I don't know what the exact requirements are to qualify as a seller of prerecorded music; I don't think a store has to sell nothing but music, but I don't think a bar that simply had an open offer to sell any of its CD's for $30 would qualify.

[jpsb]

Might be worth a try, you know better then anyone how many hits FR gets, that gives you a very big carrot and auto excerpting gives you a very big stick. I think most paper would play ball, all they really wants is hits and you can give them tons of hits.

[Chad Fairbanks]

Do you implement cover charges? Look. I'm not saying the system is perfect, but it IS fair, as far as performance rights go - the fees are nominal - what do they average? 500 dollars a year? It's not like you, or anyone else, is being soaked...

Serious question - have you ever considered talking to the licensing groups and trying to negotiate a lower fee?

[Lucyinsky]

I copy the whole story to my hard drive so I have it , in case the link dies.. I hate when I click on one, and it's gone...

[4mycountry]

Huh?

[pending]

I don't know if it is urban legend, but I have heard that BeBop was the solution for musicians who didnt want to pay the fees. Thats why it dont sound like nothin.

At the time reps were hitting the clubs and demanding cash.

[antaresequity]

Man this sucks...and it is 100% not coincidental...

[Chad Fairbanks]

Probably - I think Bebop was more like punk was in the late 70s - a rejection of the large Jazz Ensembles (with 15+ members!) of the period and it was striving to be different than the institutionalized stuff that was the mainstream, but I could be wrong...

[DoughtyOne]

I don't doubt for a moment that this is an effort to either take FR down, or try to render it toothless. It's pretty hard to discuss a 2000 word article precisely when only three sentences appear on the forum.

If I ever come into some money, I'm going ot underwrite Jim's next foray into the courts regarding of free speech and fair use for an informed populace.