Burn and Get Burnt Campaign

Dunno how many of you guys have seen this floating around, but TV2's Squeeze show on Wed night had a segment on it which was horribly opne sided. Herewith what I sent to TVNZ.

Hi,

I just watched the first fifteen minutes of some program titled Squeeze on TV2. This segment featured details of the Burn&GtBurnt campaign currently being promoted by the NZ Recording Industry Association.
Was this segment a paid for advertisement by this group? If so, then why wasn't this made clear to the viewer? If not, then where was the criticism or discussion on the part of TVNZ? The whole piece seemed very one sided- lying somewhere between poor journalism and down right deceit.

Most notable was the comment that it is "illegal" to make copies for personal use. This is patently incorrect. Did your staff bother to validate these claims by the Recording Industry Association? One wonders who's side you are really on? This being the same organisation which so vehemently opposes parallel importing- I would love to see a Squeeze special with the Recording Industry Assn justifying their position on this!

As a DJ I am in the interesting position of being somewhat bound to the format of music that I must buy and play- most, if not all my music comes on 12" vinyl. My shipping bill is usually more that what I pay for my music- if only I could copy and sell airfreight. The music I play isn't the sort of stuff you're going to find in some Deca back catalogue, and, as such I take a copy straight after purchase lest the storage embodying my original copy become damaged. This also means that I am able to transfer the tracks to my work PC, my minidisc (made by Sony) and to my MP3 player.
As you can imagine it would be somewhat inconvenient to have to carry a turntable with me when I go to the gym!

The Recording Industry Assn. and, by proxy, TVNZ, would have me believe that what I am doing is patently illegal. But, I also take a fairly keen interest in the Law- my specialist areas being technology and intellectual property. You guys might want to have a look at s43 Copyright Act 1994- this of course being the broadest of the fair dealing exceptions under our Act. The question must be asked- was the first 15 minutes of Squeeze this evening not a little cheeky? I know that when I copy my records and/or CD's to my Minidisc or computer for private study I do so with a clear conscience. One would think that others should be allowed the same.

Consumers have been format and time shifting material for several decades- Sony, no doubt one of the sponsors of this recent campaign was even a defendant in an early time/format shifting case (they also manufacture Minidisc Recorders, MP3 players and CD Burners).
While our law is quite plainly a derivation of the UK Copyright Act with it's rather restrained exception provisions, the similarities between our s43 and the Fair Use provisions under US law are unlikely to be passed over by our courts. Did TVNZ bother with any legal advice in pursuit of a balanced story? Did they simply pass over it?

I do not deny that there is a problem with plainly illegal copying- especially given the lossless nature of digital copying. Put yourself in my shoes, paying airfreight for heavy records from the UK only to find the neighbourhood grom has already nicked the track from Napster and the like and has been playing it out for weeks. But, if the Burn&GtBurnt campaign is to be credible then all parties must act with some degree of good faith- pulling the wool isn't as easy as it used to be- "we've got the internet now!"

The recording industry obviously has a financial interest in promoting a broad interpretation of our copyright provisions- TVNZ, as the national broadcaster does not.
So... who funded the slot? Or, was it free? If so- how about giving some of us on the other side of the fence some time to air our interpretations?

Cheers
Chris

Very nice

Yeah I found it rather humerous as well.

The artist that really got on my tits was Renee from Tadpole. She was the one who really came across like she was towing the record company line. "if you burn CD's, I don't like you!" Bad news babe, I already hate you, so gettafuck.

The Pitch Black story was quite funny tho..came across a burned copy of their CD in someones player, so they quietly swapped it for a real copy, dropping the hint 'yeah, we know..."

I liked Dave Dobbyn having a sly dig at the amount a record company makes of CD sales as well.

Who makes CD Burners? Oh that's right, Sony make some. I'm sure there is plenty of others who do as well. Quite funny also that when I was in Sounds the other day, visting a freind (who is as anti-burning/MP3 as they get to the level of not letting us borrow his CD's), right behind him on the counter was a huge pile of blank CD's, just begging to be sold.

My objection to the anti-burning stance of records companies is simple. I am really sorry to the artists, but the record companies that you deal with are seriously fucked. Rather than bleating on about how CD burning is stealing food from your kids mouths, how bout you sign a better deal with your record company next time. Why is it that they are making 10 times what you are off your work? For all the moaning the RIAA does about how MP3/burning is eating into their profits, check out the RIAA's own figures detailing the massive profits they continue to pull in. Sure, between 1999 and 2000, RIAA sales did drop 1.8%, but this means that they only sold US$14.3 worth of music in 2000 instead of US$14.5 billion. I can certainly see how they are feeling the pinch.

Artists don't make sweet fuck all off CD's. If you wanna support them, go to gigs, buy merchandise.

I'll give you the RIAA links as well.

http://www.riaa.com

http://www.riaa.com/pdf/year_end_2000.pdf (for the sales figures, PDF format)

Yea Renee was the consumate blonde (with apologies to blondes whom I have been known to like alot...), but she was a real.... oh wow... I sooo didn't know about this and it is so bad and it is ruining my life...

I got this from www.top50.co.nz
From what I can gather it's the RIANZ's take/statement on the BRN & GTBRNT Campaign...

Personally, I think it's a bunch of bollacks...


BRN>BRNT - Its A Crime Against Our Music

MESSAGES: “Our clear message is please don’t copy our music as it is like stealing or shoplifting from everyone who works in the music industry,” says RIANZ president Michael Glading. “If you continue to pirate CDs you run the very real risk of being prosecuted.”

THE ARTISTS: Dave Dobbyn for one is right behind the campaign as are Ché Fu, Neil Finn, Stellar*, Fur Patrol and many others. Dave Dobbyn says: “If I don’t do anything to educate on the potential outcome of burning CDs, where will the next Dave Dobbyn come from? I’m backing this to ensure there will be a music industry around to support new artists in the future.”

TARGET AUDIENCES: The campaign is branded BRN>BRNT to talk to the primary target audience - young New Zealanders aged between 12 & 24 - in their language.

Other audiences are parents, school authorities and the media. Musicians and retailers are also targeted.

BRN>BRNT: Will appear on CD boxes, inner sleeves, and posters, in store, in music ads and at events.

TAKE ACTION: The music industry intends to publicise the issue during the next three months. In the first quarter of 2002 it will take action to protect the interests of musicians and the industry.

ULTIMATE MESSAGE: If you burn music CDs you run the risk of having action taken against you – that’s the ultimate message in BRN>BRNT.

What does the law say?

In New Zealand, music on CDs is protected by copyright. Put simply, if you own the copyright you can do certain things including copying the CD – if you don’t, you can’t.

Who says so? The Copyright Act 1994 according to Bell Gully lawyer Michelle Chignell.

“Currently the owner of the copyright has an exclusive right to do certain things called restricted acts, the most obvious of which is the right to copy,” Ms Chignell says.

Section 16 of the Act sets out the restricted acts. They include copying the work, issuing copies of the work to the public whether by sale or otherwise, performing the work in public, playing the work in public and a number of other acts.

Ms Chignell says none of the rights is available to purchasers of music on CDs, except to the extent that the owner permits.

“And that is usually only the right to play the music in private – not on the Internet and certainly not to burn copies,” she says.

But what about making a copy for personal use?

“The law says this is illegal. In some countries it is permitted, but we are not one of them.”

Aren’t there exceptions?

“Yes, but they are very, very limited and narrow. They do not permit the making of copies for personal and domestic use. Instead they relate to very limited educational, librarian or archival uses and may change.”

So what can the copyright owner do about it?

“Sue you for copyright infringement or prosecute you,” Ms Chignell says. “Prosecution is for criminal offending as defined in the Copyright Act 1994 and yes it does include CD burning.”

If you offend, there are some pretty heavy fines – for example, $10,000 per infringing copy and in aggregate for the same offending up to $150,000 and there is provision for imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months.

Ms Chignell says ignorance of the law is no excuse as in most laws. But some concerned copyright owners would prefer to see people better educated on what is and what is not allowed rather than suing or prosecuting every infringer as a first step.

“Some countries don’t trust people not to use blank CDs illegally so they have dramatically increased the cost of blank CDs by including a tax or levy on these so the copyright owners at least get a cut on each blank CD disk sold.

“In New Zealand we have been more trusting. But it may not last.

“It’s a bit like an honesty box at an un-manned roadside stall – the owners trust you to pay and do the right thing by them. Yes you know it’s illegal to take without paying and they are not asking you to steal by taking without paying.

“But trust is based on something. If it is obvious that trusting and educating are not enough then the remedies granted by the law will be enforced – and may even be changed to make it easier to enforce.

“Look at what has happened with the instant fines for underage drinking or illegal fishing. So if it’s illegal – don’t do it.

So who does it hurt?

“Every person involved in the making of the music and putting it in the market on CD will be harmed if you burn illegal CDs. That includes the composer, the musicians, the performers and the record companies.”

Technology makes CD piracy easy

The ease with which CDs can be illegally copied is the direct result of advances in technology.

Many baby boomers will remember duplicating cassette tape music back in the ’70s so you could have one tape for the car and one for home. Well, that was illegal too.

But one of the problems with tape duplication is the loss of a generation of quality when the tape is duplicated.

Unless you had the most expensive and sophisticated duplication equipment, tape hiss was a factor that helped make the practice less popular.

Another problem with tape for illegal copiers was the one-to-one time it took to duplicate – a 90 minute tape took 90 minutes to copy.

Not so with CDs. Because the music is digital, there is no loss of quality when it is replicated. You get exactly the same “numbers” and therefore the same music quality as on the original.

And modern burners can copy disks at one-twelfth the time it takes to play the CD. Mass production of CD-Rs on multiple tower burners is increasingly driving a global music pirate business valued at more than US$4 billion, says Terence O’Neill-Joyce from the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand.

“CD pirates have been active for the past five years and in the most recent 12 months burning has reached huge levels,” he says.

“While CD burners have been available for a number of years, no one appears to have taken on board the consequences of the speed with which technology has changed.

“It’s so much more affordable and so much quicker nowadays.”

High speed compression technology has come into focus during the last two years with many computers now shipped with high-speed CD-R capabilities – the ability to write digital information onto a blank CD.

With blanks selling for between $2 and $5 each, unscrupulous CD pirates can make anywhere between 100 and 500 per cent on their investment.

While it appears that much of the CD piracy can be attributed to younger age groups, no one music type is immune says Sony Music managing director and RIANZ president Michael Glading.

“The biggest volume sellers are the biggest volume burners, it would seem. We know at Sony that some of our material for mature audiences – for example Bob Dylan – isn’t getting burned, presumably because it appeals to an older audience.

“But on the other hand, we have heard about instances of people using CD burners at their work places to copy CDs.”

Mr Glading relates the story of an acquaintance who has a relative who works at a motor vehicle distributor where they burn car manuals onto CDs.

“Apparently staff members bring in their popular CDs to be copied and shared around the people who work there and their relatives and friends.”

Wel;l they certainly didn't go overboard on expensive lawyers- according to the Bell Gully web site Ms Chignall is neither a partner, nor a senior associate. It shows too.

The exceptions are certainly narrower than say the US Fair Use doctrine, and, correspondingly heads of liability under our law are also much narrower.

Copying for personal study, the s43 exception includes a set of five considerations for the court to look at when determining if a given use falls under this provision- these criteria are very, very similar to those examined to determine fair use under US Law.

This little crusade by the NZRIA pisses me off quite a bit, because, although there is no doubt a problem with illegal piracy, they are misrepresenting the true state of the law and as such aren't really playing fair. People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.

I'm warming up for a bit of counter warfare... anyone else keen?
Lawyers? Law Students? Other Keen Parties?
chris@nova.co.nz

http://www.squeezetv.co.nz/sections/feature.htm

Burn CDs and you’ll get burned!

New Zealand music makers and the industry are getting tough on compact disc piracy.

In a campaign titled Burn and Get Burnt, the New Zealand music industry and local artists today announced they are combining to stamp out illegal CD duplication.

Musicians and record companies say piracy is rampant and could be costing the industry up to $95 million a year.

They also say piracy has a direct effect on the income of artists and in particular those who can least afford it, younger musicians starting out on their careers.

"We ’re saying CD piracy is illegal and it ’s rife in our own backyard," said industry spokesperson Michael Glading, president of the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand.

"We are drawing attention to the problem. And we are saying to those who are doing it, we will take action to exercise the law if you continue to steal from musicians."

Musicians agree it is a big problem and something needs to be done. Local legend Dave Dobbyn says the latest technology has had a huge impact on the way we treat our music. "If this practice continues – ripping off musician ’s copyrighted work – I don ’t know if the young artists will get the breaks in a few years ’time," Dobbyn says.

"Investment in New Zealand music has been going through a growth phase and this has only been possible by the infrastructure in place to support it. If burning continues to gain momentum, young artists won ’t have the opportunities we had."

While musicians and the record companies admit it is hard to quantify the seriousness of the problem, international figures reflect the global position.

Terence O ’Neill-Joyce from the Recording Industry Association says figures released by the International Federation of Phonographic Industries in London suggest one in every two CDs is a copy.

"Recorded music is a $190 million industry in New Zealand – that means there ’s a pirated CD black market possibly as high as $95 million.

"The GST on that alone is nearly $10 million and the artist ’s losses would also be millions of dollars."

So who ’s pirating CDs in New Zealand?

Just about everyone but with a predominance of teenagers and young adults, Michael Glading says.

"Because everyone ’s doing it, there’s the perception it ’s OK. We ’re saying it ’s not OK and it ’s hurting those who can least afford it.

"Ask your kids what goes on at school or when they ’re otherwise away from home. They ’ll tell you about the very latest releases selling for $10 at school.

"And the market is growing so fast, prices are now dropping to $5 – or so my 12 year old tells me.

"Not only are the CDs being sold at schools, we understand kids are also using computer equipment at their schools to pirate music."
Mr Glading says CD piracy knows no socio-economic boundaries.

"It ’s simply too easy nowadays. Digital technology has come a long way – you can make exact copies without loss of quality and produce hundreds of CDs an hour

"A blank CD sells for around $2 and all you need is access to a $3,000 computer and you ’re in business.

"Anecdotal evidence also tells us people aren’t even buying the CDs they ’re copying. They shop for a CD, take it home, pirate it and then return it to the shop for a money-back guarantee or to swap for another."

Mr O ’Neill-Joyce backs the assertion.

"There is a kiosk in Auckland ’s Newmarket where you put a legal CD in the left hand tray,the target blank CD in the right hand tray,deposit $5 and it duplicates the original CD for you," Mr O ’Neill-Joyce said.

"And it ’s right across the road from a Sounds record shop!" The Burn and Get Burnt campaign is supported by all New Zealand record
companies and some of the country ’s foremost musicians including Dave Dobbyn and Neil Finn, Ché Fu, Stellar*, Fur Patrol and many more.

Advertising and PR activities are targeted at CD buyers through the media and where CDs are bought. A campaign logo has been developed and it will be used extensively in and on CD cases, on point of sale material and on music company advertising and vouchers.

The campaign is also sponsoring hip-hop singer/songwriter Ché Fu ’s upcoming national tour and is sending a direct mail letter to school principals informing them of the problem.

Mr Glading says the immediate goal of the campaign is to raise the issue and educate consumers that copying music CDs is illegal.
"It is a three month programme in which we will inform people who pirate CDs about the consequences of their actions. After three months we plan to take action against those who persist in stealing from New Zealand musicians and record companies.

"You can rest assured. Burn and you ’ll get burnt."

Issued for the New Zealand Music Industry and Musicians by Pead PR

Contacts:
Michael Glading, Sony Music,Tel:0-9-979 5328
Terence O ’Neill-Joyce,RIANZ,Tel:0-9-308 0510
Deborah Pead, Pead PR,Tel:0-9-918 5550,021-612 919

Ooooh Sony make great CDR blanks as well.

they sure do

And shit, at the Warehouse, you can get a pack of 20 for &19.95. No CD cover, but that\'s okay.
Whoops, shoot, I\'m talking illegal talk, aren\'t I. :oP

Moving right along....

I love how Sony hedge their bets. On one hand, their recording arm hates piracy. On the other, they hate not making money out of blank CDs and CD and now DVD recorders. Capitalist economics is a wonder isn\'t it?

Its not like im going to go buy all the cds i listen too.

There have been very few times that i have wanted a cd enough to buy it and then found someone else who has to copy. Most of the stuff i listen to is next to impossible to buy on cds. So while i have copied cds its not at the expense of record label profit margins (theyre soo below the poverty line i dont know how those poor execs survive)

If much of the money a cd costs went to the artisits then i wouldnt be so keen on burning but the fact is sfa does. so the record companies can go jump.

People have been making copies of cassettes for years!

I was reading a press release on the burn and get burnt campaign the other day and they\'re going to have a wee warning period and then it said after that you will be charged $10,000 for burning a CD.

Who gets this $? hmm

Thats sounds like bollix unless perhaps you're burning cds and selling them making money. The sentence for burglary is tiny.

The majority of cds i copy so i can leave the originals at home, that way i dont loose some overpriced original if it gets nicked. The rest are either cds i wouldnt normally consider buying or cant get access to, like live sets or something.

o k i have read a little of each post im really confused but im gana ask and say this


if the didnt make blank discs fine u arnt suppose to do it


but they make them ? so ppl are going to burn
and i also read on that even if u buy the cd u dont really own it cause u arnt allowed to make copies of it.

so what the fuck are we paying for?

good bloody question. and i hate to sound unsupportive of New Zealand bands but are there really that many poeple running around burning copies of fur patrol and tadpole to give to their friends who can't live without them.

Hey, nice one cauld.

Me, I'll burn a copy of the imports. They're too pricey. But I'd feel guilty as burning a copy of the Black Seeds. Know some of the guys and I'd feel like a right little prick burning their work, even if they only got $2 from me buying the album.

I have no qualms with the illegality of copying and the enforcement of copyright. I am inclined towards supporting some concept of 'fair use' within New Zealand, but, that is obviously up to the courts.

What I don't like is the NZRIA spouting bollocks under the guise of public information and education. What I like even less is the stinking national broadcaster whom I am compelled to fund supporting and endorsing said bollocks. Maybe we need a NZ Recorded Works Users Association to balance up the scales?

there isnt any nz music worth burning :-p

sorry I can't remember who said it way up there ^^^ but artists dont make much money off concerts and touring, alot of the time they lose money, but touring and playing live is a necessary part of selling your CD. I'm not sure about merchandise however...

twinkle: yes there are! fur patrol & tadpole & stellar etcera, may not be yours or my cup of tea but teenagers are fully into that sort of local stuff. which is great, I mean, everyone wins right?

and one more thing, ok its true that record/publishing companies take a large portion of the profit from selling these CD's, but do you people realise just how much goes behind making a quality and successful CD??? and how many people are behind every album released?

one last thing: Forest - in all seriousness that is the most ill informed and laughable comment I've seen on these boards.

well u name some for me then?

i dont listen to drum in bass so if talking aboot the few ones that are i dont care and stuff from N n U isnt even there music. and concord dawn is just plain boring.

and as for tadpole PLEASE!!!!!!! i went to them when they played in Pukekohe talk about sing three songs and talk to the crowd aboot coming to a small town for 40mins

next

most kiwi stuff if ur meaning like sam hills b2b cd? and samples g stuff? it is overseas?

so what is ur point? i dont need to get that stuff cause it is on the net anyway ?

and i have mates that are dj's ?

explain to me what u mean please?

oh maybe the expontens but there are dance music

but i dont listen to them everyday some im not going to burn or buy for that matter

arent * fucking natural keyboards suck big time

*splutter cough choke*

Concord Dawn... boring? I beg to differ there man.

Borin: Agree entirely with your post... but, if the NZRIA want us to take their campaign seriously then they have to tell the truth. What I saw on TVNZ that night was unadulterated propogandist bolloks.

Forest: I think you need to expand your horizons and start buying some good NZ produced music ...and stop spamming the current affairs forum with four posts in a row to try and get more points

*wtf??* NZ stuff no good?? Are you deaf? Someone give that Forest a pick-me-up or some prozac, he's obv too depressed with life not to appreciate the cool kiwi stuff. That Black Seeds album rocks and there's another one on the way...

to depressed with life?

hmm im the living in queenstown having a fucking choice time.


i can say what ever i fucking like about new zealand im proud to be a kiwi but the music sucks and im not a drum in base fan so concord dawn dosnt appeal to me.

they maybe great but i dont think so but that is only what i feeeel ok guys

each to there own.

im not agureing just expressing what i feel.

and harvey i dont need any more points

im well clear of the field right now thanks :-p

By the way, there is more to nz music than Concord Dawn.

Is there? *grin*

well I see Forest has been busy! lol
Cauld: yes sorry I went off on a tangent for a while there didn't I? For the record I didn't see the Squeeze episode you are talking about but support your arguement if it was indeed as one-sided as you say.
Its funny how history repeats itself isn't it? the music executives tried to stop 'double cassette decks' on public hi-fi's because they announced it would destroy the music industry! hehe now we know that it certainly didn't, but on the other hand you mentioned a good point in your letter, namely; "the lossless nature of digital-copying" so perhaps a direct comparision is inaccurate.

Forest: after much thought on my part, I've decided its just not worth argueing with you any further.

Another point i think should be made to everyone giving crap to the record companies is that it is the CD stores who mark them up about $10.00 from the price they got them from the record company so don't just blame the record companies.

Borinscary is right though that there are so so many people who are behind the efforts put into buying a CD. I dont want to see these people miss out on money and neither the bands but $10,000 fine for each burnt CD is just a tad steep.

yay twinkle

re: CD stores marking up the price,
I'm not comfortable blaming these stores for hiking the price up, the thing is the overheads on a CD store are very high! Think about it, the store has to buy every single CD that they stock upfront, and THEN try to sell it for a profit. And there's often a large gap between the two. And a good music store is judged on its selection, which means buying LOTS of stock.
does this make sense? haha I'm not sure.

absolutely makes sense and i totally agree with you. it's just people are dishing out all the shit to record companies when it's not them who charges the in store price. I'm not blaming them as such at all - just trying to explain to people that the rcord companies aren't quite the scourges of the earth everyone thinks they are. i def agree with you!

Yeah. The thing is that digital music offers many benefits to record companies - selling direct to the consumer and cutting out the both the distributors/ & publishers and the retail middlemen. That potentially means mcuh cheaper prices than us, and I believe that if music is cheap enough people will actually buy it.

borinscary: Agreed - the stock those places keep is astronomical, and it is quite a risky business I imagine. Personally, I think the distribution chain is just too long now. The difficulty in getting import music is testament to the inefficiency of the music industry's mechanisms, really. $50 for Klute - Fear of People is just insane - makes me want to copy it.

I think the RIAA (in particular) has much work to do. (not that I think this justifies copying of CDs, but explains some of the behaviour somewhat)