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> Basically, it's the record companies who own the copyright to songs, making
> musicians more like technical writers than creative writers, who at least
> retain the copyright to their work. This situation is heinous IMHO.
It is, but it's also a gross generalisation. Many musicians keep the
copyright to their songs. It all depends on the contract that the
musician/group negotiates with the record company. Obviously, the most
successful musicians and groups have more negotiating power and are more
likely to keep their copyrights.
> If Napster raises our awareness on this issue, then Napster has performed a
> wonderful service.
This issue has been raised before. It came up when Paul McCartney tried
to buy back the copyright to his and John Lennon's early songs (I
believe he lost out to Michael Jackson, but I could be wrong on that).
It also came up a few years ago when some "older" musicians (aka before
the 80's) sued some record companies for royalties, etc. on re-issues,
use of their songs for commercials and movie soundtracks, etc.
I don't agree with Napster and I don't think that they're doing anything
but trying to figure out a way to make money off this technology of
theirs.
As an artist myself, I wouldn't want to give up my right to earn money
from my own creativity just because someone else figures they have the
right to get a copy of it from someone else for free. At the bottom
line, if the musicians, producers, recording studio employees, and
record companies can't make money from CDs and music, then they will
stop releasing it publically. They may even stop recording it, because
it costs money to record music. After all, someone has to pay for the
cost of recording studios, musicians, singers, backups, producers,
instruments, CDs, and everything else involved in producing music.
Oh and, no, I haven't downloaded anything from Napster. I use the radio
and listening stations in stores to check out new CDs and then I buy
them.
