I read last year that a T.V. executive claimed that those who TIVO as show, then watch it later and skip the commercials, are stealing a product. I do this all the time. It is my feeling that I pay a hefty fee each month for the privilege of watching television, including a fee to watch my local channels. Maybe, and its a big maybe, if I got all my shows off the airwaves with an antennae, and then recorded the shows to watch sans commercials, I might be accused of being a tad unethical. I realize that without sponsors, I couldn’t enjoy these shows, but HBO and others manage to use a different business model, so why can’t the networks?
Then, this morning, I saw this, an article in which an attorney actually claimed that the act of downloading a CD onto your computer was an illegal copy. I admit to being a bit of a Luddite, but one must download a CD so that it can be converted to an MP3 format to listen on an MP3 player, right? Are they suggesting that a person must buy music in each and every format necessary? I thought this was settled with the advent of VCRs, you know, back in the stone age.
I know that copyright law promises to be a huge area of litigation in the coming years, and I’ll admit that there are valid considerations on all sides, but frankly, I’m a little tired of the idea that I am paying money for a product, but I really don’t own it.
I have felt for years that writers of all kinds were horribly underpaid, and that producers, distributors, and hell, even artists all got way too fat off of someone else’s work. I applauded the strike, though I thought they set their sights way too low.
Personally, I think the digital age did to cds and albums what the car did to liveries.
Besides, the kids will figure out a way around any laws on the books.
