2000s

Day 72: Music and Copyright

• Music industry initially regarded the Internet with caution and suspicion, which soon erupted into outright hostility.

• By the late 90s, people were converting audio CD files into MP3s and posting them on websites for easy download.

What is an MP3?

• MP3 is a file compression software that can shrink an audio CD file to 1/10 its original size without much noticeable loss of quality.

• MP3s became big in places with a high-speed, high-capacity Internet connection, like college campuses.

• Peer-to-peer technologies developed like Napster, Gnutella, and Freenet to utilize the potential of the MP3 to the fullest.

Napster• Developed by Northeastern University

drop-out Shawn Fanning• Was a combination search engine,

communication portal, and file-sharing software that facilitated sharing MP3 files online.

• User had to log onto Napster’s central database and then had access to all other Napster users and the MP3 files they chose to share.

• By early 2000s, Napster had 40 million users.

More on Evolution of MP3

Gnutella and Freenet• Allowed direct user-to-user contact, which made it more

difficult to track users or the files they were trading/sharing.

MP3 was an unprotected format, where the music industry had no way to regulate it! Rather than take the lead in developing convenient, affordable, user-friendly methods of downloading music, the music industry decided to retreat and try to protect what they already used through law suits and advocating for new laws to extend the reach of copyright.

Legislation and Litigation

• Copyright Law – weighs the legal protection of intellectual property and providing an incentive to creative work against the public rights of access to information and freedom of expression

• No Electronic Theft Act of 1997 – Enacted to prosecute and punish persons who accessed copyrighted materials electronically without permission, whether or not they received money

• The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 – Made it illegal to get around technological measures for protecting sound recordings and other copyrighted material…created a new owners’ right to control access to work

Legislation and Litigation

• Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998 – Pushed forward by Disney, extended US copyrights owned by corporations to 95 years and individually held copyrights to the life of the author plus 75 years

• The Rio Litigation – The Rio was a portable, walkman-like digital MP3 player, capable of downloading, storing and playing back 60 minutes of music that was the first to move the MP3 beyond the computer desktop. The company was sued by RIAA, but won because the Rio was a storage device, not a recording device.

Day 73: MP3 continued…

• MP3.com– Best-known source of online MP3 files then– Constructed an online database of some 60,000

commercially available CDs and gave free access to users who uploads a CD to their site

– Were sued by RIAA and paid $170 million

Napster

• RIAA filed a lawsuit on behalf of 18 powerful record companies in December 1999

• Alleged “contributory and vicarious” copyright infringement

• Metallica (and Dr. Dre) also sued Napster• The result of the lawsuits was that the fans were angered• End of 2000, Napster joined with BMG to develop a new,

secure subscription service• In summer 2001, Napster was shut down due to a judge’s

orders

Piracy and Theft

• Work for Hire Amendment: Made all recordings works for hire, reducing all artists to hired hands of the record companies

• Learning from Napster– User-friendliness– Music library offered all styles of music– Could make your own compilation CD– Napster users communicated with each other

Post-Napster World

• April 2003, RIAA rages a war on the fans with an e-mail warning. Also sued many fans for illegally downloading songs.

• Apple iTunes Music Store – Launched in the Spring 2003, “Downloads done right”– Sold 1 million songs in the first week– Apple iPod debuted in 2001 and became the icon

of digital music

Day 74: Popular Music After 9/11

• The events are 9/11 brought in a new role for contemporary popular music.– Music that was associated with rebellion and

defiance in the 60s and 70s was now used in the service of mourning, healing, and patriotism.

– Artists were donating money and hosting huge mega-events.• What’s Goin On• What More Can I Give

Popular Music After 9/11 continued…

• October 21, 2011: Paul McCartney headlined the Concert for New York City in Madison Square Garden, which raised $30 million for the NYFD

• New Yorkers Against Violence: Hosted by the Beastie Boys as a two-night fundraiser at the Hammerstein Ballroom, was the only effort that was committed to nonviolent solutions

• America: A Tribute to Heros Telethon: Earned $160 million on September 21, 2001, featured 22 artists and 50 actors staffing the phones

Interactive (Reality) Television

• American Idol– Changes in judges– Prize: $1 million and record contract– Top 10 go on tour, earning 6 figures