Music Piracy - VGF

Vinny · 11-20-2003, 04:39 PM

What are your opinions on ripping music off of the internet? Do you think that legal action should be taken against people who do it? More importantly, do you do it?

Personally, I do it. But only if I only like several of the artist's songs and am not wasting money on a crappy CD with 2 good songs. Also, I may download whole albums, but I always end up buying those in the end.

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Quote of the week:
"If it weren't for electricity we'd all be watching television by candlelight."- George Gobol.
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Only 1/3 of the people that can twitch their ears can twitch only one at a time.

Bomby · 11-20-2003, 06:28 PM

Pirating music kicks ass.

11-20-2003, 06:38 PM

< Has over 300 somgs on Kazaa

Guess. [img]tongue.gif[/img]

Lurch1982 · 11-20-2003, 10:47 PM

I'm split on the issue.

1.) I agree with the artists that they should be able to profit off of their work. Sorry, but things like this completely erode the author's control over their work and will ultimately stifle creativity. Why should anyone want to create if they cannot make a living off of it? Sure, that's still a far way down the road, but to give people a blank check to blatently steal and rip off material. It devalues art, writing and music, as well as destroys author control over the material. If I write a novel, I don't want it available for free in fulltext on the Internet, nor would I want someone making copies or ripping me off. Open piracy being legal pretty much erodes any rights and controls over your work. Keyword being "your work." If I write a book, that means *I* wrote it, not my fans. Because of that, the logic that "musicians shouldn't care because its the fans" falls on its face....I wrote it, I want credit, and i want to live from it.

2.) I'm for it based on the fact that the industry blatently rips people off, I generally do everything in my power to not give them my dollar. I support smaller indy lables because I mostly listen to them anyway, and I will only buy CDs used or at 12 dollars or under. Anything over is grossly overpriced. If they fix the pricing scheme, I stop downloading. If they provide a non-p2p download service that I can afford and has a wide selection of artists, I'd pay for that...but what they do now is robbery and the industry is completely out of touch with the fanbase. Heavy-handed lawsuits only prove that the industry is out of touch...the real problem is overpriced CDs, not downloading. Make the CDs cheaper, and people start buying them.

Pikahobbes · 11-20-2003, 10:56 PM

Like everything, it's fine in moderation.

theflyingfish · 11-20-2003, 11:28 PM

I don't see a problem with it if you use it to sample an artist's music. I.e. if you download two or three songs off of a CD, like those songs, and then either buy them off of iTunes (if they're available) or buy the CD. Downloading just because you don't want to pay (especially if you're burning an entire album) is just theft and cheap.

As for supporting the music industry, it's not really an issue for me either way. Now I always buy my CDs off of Half.com, since even brand new sealed CDs are usually around $10. Lesser conditions or older CDs go for less, so I don't have any reason to buy CDs new from stores anymore.

[ November 21, 2003, 11:01 PM: Message edited by: The Flying Fish ]

Bomby · 11-21-2003, 08:43 PM

To be honest, many of the CD's I've bought I would've never done so if it weren't for MP3. Stuff like J-Zone or Chino XL that doesn't get played by radio, older artists who don't do anything, artists who I needed to give a second chance in order to like (I did not want to like D'Angelo after the "Untitled" video, but thanks to MP3's he's one of my favoriite artists.)

11-20-2003, 04:39 PM	#1
Vinny Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: The Fletcher Memorial Home for incurable tyrants and kings Posts: 7,262 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post Points: 15,396.86 Bank: 500.00 Total Points: 15,896.86 Donate	What are your opinions on ripping music off of the internet? Do you think that legal action should be taken against people who do it? More importantly, do you do it? Personally, I do it. But only if I only like several of the artist's songs and am not wasting money on a crappy CD with 2 good songs. Also, I may download whole albums, but I always end up buying those in the end. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Quote of the week: "If it weren't for electricity we'd all be watching television by candlelight."- George Gobol. Image of the week: Pointless fact of the week: Only 1/3 of the people that can twitch their ears can twitch only one at a time.

11-20-2003, 06:28 PM	#2
Bomby All I Ever Wanted Was To Pick Apart the Day & Put the Pieces Back Together My Way Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: The People's Republic of Madison, WI Gender: Posts: 14,713 Thanks: 203 Thanked 460 Times in 319 Posts Blog Entries: 4 Points: 4,894.79 Bank: 1,971,248.97 Total Points: 1,976,143.76 Donate	Pirating music kicks ass.

11-20-2003, 06:38 PM	#3
homer Guest Posts: n/a Points: 0 Bank: 0 Total Points: 0 Donate	< Has over 300 somgs on Kazaa Guess. [img]tongue.gif[/img]

11-20-2003, 10:47 PM	#4
Lurch1982 Senior Member Join Date: May 2000 Location: Katrinaland, USA Gender: Posts: 9,118 Thanks: 119 Thanked 187 Times in 121 Posts Points: 25,465.70 Bank: 138,943.96 Total Points: 164,409.66 Donate	I'm split on the issue. 1.) I agree with the artists that they should be able to profit off of their work. Sorry, but things like this completely erode the author's control over their work and will ultimately stifle creativity. Why should anyone want to create if they cannot make a living off of it? Sure, that's still a far way down the road, but to give people a blank check to blatently steal and rip off material. It devalues art, writing and music, as well as destroys author control over the material. If I write a novel, I don't want it available for free in fulltext on the Internet, nor would I want someone making copies or ripping me off. Open piracy being legal pretty much erodes any rights and controls over your work. Keyword being "your work." If I write a book, that means I wrote it, not my fans. Because of that, the logic that "musicians shouldn't care because its the fans" falls on its face....I wrote it, I want credit, and i want to live from it. 2.) I'm for it based on the fact that the industry blatently rips people off, I generally do everything in my power to not give them my dollar. I support smaller indy lables because I mostly listen to them anyway, and I will only buy CDs used or at 12 dollars or under. Anything over is grossly overpriced. If they fix the pricing scheme, I stop downloading. If they provide a non-p2p download service that I can afford and has a wide selection of artists, I'd pay for that...but what they do now is robbery and the industry is completely out of touch with the fanbase. Heavy-handed lawsuits only prove that the industry is out of touch...the real problem is overpriced CDs, not downloading. Make the CDs cheaper, and people start buying them.

11-20-2003, 10:56 PM	#5
Pikahobbes Senior Member Join Date: May 2000 Gender: Posts: 4,676 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Points: 1,646.88 Bank: 510.00 Total Points: 2,156.88 Donate	Like everything, it's fine in moderation.

11-20-2003, 11:28 PM	#6
theflyingfish Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: The far side of Fribbulus Xax Posts: 7,386 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Points: 1,363.00 Bank: 500.00 Total Points: 1,863.00 Donate	I don't see a problem with it if you use it to sample an artist's music. I.e. if you download two or three songs off of a CD, like those songs, and then either buy them off of iTunes (if they're available) or buy the CD. Downloading just because you don't want to pay (especially if you're burning an entire album) is just theft and cheap. As for supporting the music industry, it's not really an issue for me either way. Now I always buy my CDs off of Half.com, since even brand new sealed CDs are usually around $10. Lesser conditions or older CDs go for less, so I don't have any reason to buy CDs new from stores anymore. [ November 21, 2003, 11:01 PM: Message edited by: The Flying Fish ]

11-21-2003, 08:43 PM	#7
Bomby All I Ever Wanted Was To Pick Apart the Day & Put the Pieces Back Together My Way Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: The People's Republic of Madison, WI Gender: Posts: 14,713 Thanks: 203 Thanked 460 Times in 319 Posts Blog Entries: 4 Points: 4,894.79 Bank: 1,971,248.97 Total Points: 1,976,143.76 Donate	To be honest, many of the CD's I've bought I would've never done so if it weren't for MP3. Stuff like J-Zone or Chino XL that doesn't get played by radio, older artists who don't do anything, artists who I needed to give a second chance in order to like (I did not want to like D'Angelo after the "Untitled" video, but thanks to MP3's he's one of my favoriite artists.)