Sony BMG's chief anti-piracy lawyer: "Copying" music you
own is "stealing"
By Eric Bangeman | Published: October 02, 2007
- 09:12PM CT
Duluth, Minnesota Testimony today in Capitol Records, et al v.
Jammie Thomas quickly and inadvertently turned to the topic of fair
use when Jennifer Pariser, the head of litigation for Sony BMG, was
called to the stand to testify. Pariser said that file-sharing is
extremely damaging to the music industry and that record labels are
particularly affected. In doing so, she advocated a view of
copyright that would turn many honest people into thieves.
Pariser noted that music labels make no money on touring, radio, or
merchandise, which leaves the company particularly exposed to the
negative effects of file-sharing. "It's my personal belief that
Sony BMG is half the size now as it was in 2000," she said, thanks
to piracy. In Pariser's view, "when people steal, when they take
music without compensation, we are harmed."
Pariser has a very broad definition of "stealing." When questioned
by Richard Gabriel, lead counsel for the record labels, Pariser
suggested that what millions of music fans do is actually theft.
The dirty deed? Ripping your own CDs or downloading songs you
already own.
Gabriel asked if it was wrong for consumers to make copies of music
which they have purchased, even just one copy. Pariser replied,
"When an individual makes a copy of a song for himself, I suppose
we can say he stole a song." Making "a copy" of a purchased song is
just "a nice way of saying 'steals just one copy'," she said.
Countless studies have shown that the majority of music on portable
music players like the iPod comes from sources other than download
services. For most people, that music is comprised primarily of
songs "ripped" from CD collections to MP3 or some other comparable
format. Indeed, most portable music players comes with software
(like iTunes) which is designed to facilitate the easy ripping of
CDs. According to Pariser's view, this is stealing.
We've actually heard something similar to this view before. As part
of the 2006 triennial review of the effectiveness of the DMCA, a
number of content-related industries filed a joint reply with the
government on the effectiveness of the DMCA and the challenges that
lay ahead for copyright. The argument relating to CDs espoused in
the joint reply could be summarized: although nothing has prevented
consumers from making backups of CDs, this cannot be construed as
authorization from the music labels for them to do so. Thus, there
has been no authorization of said backups, and the coincidental
ability to make backups currently should not be mistaken for fair
use.
Pariser's views appear to be similar, insofar as she clearly
suggests that consumers have no right to make backups of the music
that they have purchased in CD form or even in download form.
Ken Fisher contributed to this
report.
