Saturday, January 24, 2009

ASCAP: time to counter 'copy left/free culture pontificators'

ASCAP, the performance rights organization that collects royalties for songwriters, composers, and music publishers, has had it with the "growing prevalence of the 'copy left/free culture' pontificators in the public discourse about creators rights." (So have I! Why do you think I started this blog?) Digital Media News reports that ASCAP President and Chairwoman Marilyn Bergman and CEO John LoFrumento will lunch with a "select group of ASCAP members" on Feb. 3 in Los Angeles to discuss "various advocacy efforts," including plans to counter the copyleft.

Kudos to ASCAP for recognizing the importance of fighting back. For too long, copyright owners have ceded the public debate to their ideological opponents, allowing the copyleftists in academia, interest groups, and the blogosphere to dominate discourse on copyright issues. Copyright owners still enjoy widespread support in Congress, but that won't last as a new cohort of lawyers, judges, legislators, journalists, and voters, heavily influenced by the copyleft, move into positions of power. Efforts like ASCAP's are an important part of ensuring this doesn't happen.

2 comments:

  1. And yet you use a free service like blogspot to facilitate your ramblings.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I do. And your point is? Since Google is kind enough to offer this free pontification platform, I see no reason to refuse it.

    ReplyDelete

Comments here are moderated. I appreciate substantive comments, whether or not they agree with what I've written. Stay on topic, and be civil. Comments that contain name-calling, personal attacks, or the like will be rejected. If you want to rant about how evil the RIAA and MPAA are, and how entertainment companies' employees and attorneys are bad people, there are plenty of other places for you to go.

 
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