My ears pricked up today when I stumbled across a story that appears to have dipped under the radar somewhat. It is suggesting that Denmark’s IFPI (International Federation of Phonogram and Videogram Producers) is willing to succumb to peer-to-peer downloading, and in return they will suggest a fixed monthly fee charged to all ISP users.

Currently copyright is going through a rocky spell. The new age of digital mediums and digital distribution, giving access across a global network, makes any sort of authoritative control previously had over media now near impossible to maintain. What new iterations and add-ons there are to previous copyright laws are fast becoming archaic and unrepresentative – or rather too inflexible – for the water-like movement of creative material over the internet. DRM (Digital Rights Management), thought to be at one point a means of distributive control, has fast become old hat, with folks like EMI and iTunes removing it from their mp3s. This is compounded by governments wanting to support DRM-free media to ensure fair play and competition in the industry, allowing other companies to compete with mp3 devices like the iPod where previously iTunes’ tracks would have not been compatible. Personally I am an advocate of relaxed copyright laws. I would rather see levees attached to the ISP users – like with Canadian blank recording media – with the money going towards folks like the PRS and the MCPS and then distributed accordingly. This however will place a large emphasis on government opinion to bring about a utility bill style charging system, much like your TV license or water bill that allows unlimited access and accumulation of all music. Obviously this is all very outlandish but the big, bold point to this move toward the rebuttal of copyright, in favour of fee driven all-you-can-download systems is that it is here instigated by those who are instrumental in the development of the product to which the copyright laws relate, and this could signify a foreseeable end to the current copyright saga.

There are obviously flaws, like the extent to which this can be controlled outside of a home environment – where ISP users are less likely to be individuals. And how far and how easily fees can be instigated and coherent on a global scale, but I believe it’s a step in the right direction for modernising the availability and circulation of audio media.

On a lighter note, I read that Britney Spears’ friends and family are urging fans to boycott her latest album until she has straightened herself out. It’s lovely to see the circle around her wanting to soften the blow of the inevitably small number of record sales her poor attempt at a resurrection will create, by pretending they made it so. Such altruism…

...amazingtunes