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New canons to protect copyright in a changing world
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By h.b. - Jun 23, 2006 - 8:22 AM
More and more people are downloading their music and films
EDITORIAL COMMENT - On Thursday, Congress approved the changes to the intellectual property laws in Spain – copyright laws if you will. The idea is that a small canon will have to be paid on every blank media – from a blank CD to mobile phones and even a memory stick. However, computer hard disks and ADSL lines have, for some reason been left out of the legislation, despite their widespread use for illegal copying of music and films. Somehow the money collected in the new canon will then be paid back to the owner of the copyright.
The law is quite obviously a botched job, but a better solution is yet to be put forward. Protestors claim that we will all be paying the canon, even if we don’t use the blank material to make a copy of copyright material. And then there are the CD’s and DVD’s which have some sort of copy protection system, and so we can’t copy anyway, even though we have to still pay the canon.
For some time there has been quite a lot of publicity about the extent of how we all download or copy music, but some recent statistics have really taken the matter to new levels.
Telefonica has been looking at who and what is using most of the bandwidth of its infrastructure and now 90% of it is internet traffic using I.P protocols. Five years ago that number was just 15%. So the usual phone calls are just 10% of the system usage. As if that is not amazing enough, break down the 90% that is the internet use and we find 8% is audio or video streaming, and emails – 11% is the usual browsing of the Internet, but a massive 71% of the total is P2P traffic. That is peer to peer – direct connections between two computers and that means file sharing and the direct copying of audio or video files. The numbers also reveal that 30% of the users are taking up 90% of the bandwith – ie some of us are really using a lot of the stuff. So as more and more music and films are downloaded, less are purchased in the shops – a whole lot less. The average Spaniard now buys just 1 CD a year, and even DVD sales fell from 501 million in 2004 to 359 million last year.
One number that was up – the 509 million musical archives estimated to have been downloaded in Spain last year.
A real shake up of the cultural world is going on. Numbers from the annual report from the Spanish copyright organisation SGAE, show that only live performance, be it theatre or music, continues to show financial and audience growth. Also on the up are videogames. But elsewhere the numbers of us watching films at the cinema is down, and for the first time so are the number of screens.
As bandwidth increases and software becomes easier to use, as more youngsters are computer literate and think nothing of downloading and burning a film or an album, the copyright owners are in for several more years of a bumpy ride.
Surely the only way they can ride this wave is by offering legal downloads, at a better quality and, key to all of it, a keen price. Then the big companies will perhaps regain their market share.
For a while though there is a general feeling that CD’s and DVD’s have been over priced for too long, and so José Público feels no guilt at all. Getting back at big business is one thing, but defrauding the creator of the work, the copyright holder, of his or her income is quite another.
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New canons to protect copyright in a changing world
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By h.b. - Jun 23, 2006 - 8:22 AM
Some false DVD's being destroyed by the authorities - Archive Photo EFE
EDITORIAL COMMENT - On Thursday, Congress approved the changes to the intellectual property laws in Spain – copyright laws if you will. The idea is that a small canon will have to be paid on every blank media – from a blank CD to mobile phones and even a memory stick. However, computer hard disks and ADSL lines have, for some reason been left out of the legislation, despite their widespread use for illegal copying of music and films. Somehow the money collected in the new canon will then be paid back to the owner of the copyright.
The law is quite obviously a botched job, but a better solution is yet to be put forward. Protestors claim that we will all be paying the canon, even if we don’t use the blank material to make a copy of copyright material. And then there are the CD’s and DVD’s which have some sort of copy protection system, and so we can’t copy anyway, even though we have to still pay the canon.
For some time there has been quite a lot of publicity about the extent of how we all download or copy music, but some recent statistics have really taken the matter to new levels.
Telefonica has been looking at who and what is using most of the bandwidth of its infrastructure and now 90% of it is internet traffic using I.P protocols. Five years ago that number was just 15%. So the usual phone calls are just 10% of the system usage. As if that is not amazing enough, break down the 90% that is the internet use and we find 8% is audio or video streaming, and emails – 11% is the usual browsing of the Internet, but a massive 71% of the total is P2P traffic. That is peer to peer – direct connections between two computers and that means file sharing and the direct copying of audio or video files. The numbers also reveal that 30% of the users are taking up 90% of the bandwith – ie some of us are really using a lot of the stuff. So as more and more music and films are downloaded, less are purchased in the shops – a whole lot less. The average Spaniard now buys just 1 CD a year, and even DVD sales fell from 501 million in 2004 to 359 million last year.
One number that was up – the 509 million musical archives estimated to have been downloaded in Spain last year.
A real shake up of the cultural world is going on. Numbers from the annual report from the Spanish copyright organisation SGAE, show that only live performance, be it theatre or music, continues to show financial and audience growth. Also on the up are videogames. But elsewhere the numbers of us watching films at the cinema is down, and for the first time so are the number of screens.
As bandwidth increases and software becomes easier to use, as more youngsters are computer literate and think nothing of downloading and burning a film or an album, the copyright owners are in for several more years of a bumpy ride.
Surely the only way they can ride this wave is by offering legal downloads, at a better quality and, key to all of it, a keen price. Then the big companies will perhaps regain their market share.
For a while though there is a general feeling that CD’s and DVD’s have been over priced for too long, and so José Público feels no guilt at all. Getting back at big business is one thing, but defrauding the creator of the work, the copyright holder, of his or her income is quite another.
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Extradición
23 Jun 2006, 10:24
23 Jun 2006, 10:24
Top Manta killed Blockbuster Video in Spain
Mark Wilkins
24 Jun 2006, 08:19
24 Jun 2006, 08:19
Dear Howard/TS,
Here my earlier note now without typos!!!
Very interesting to see the Spanish government taking this step. However let's face it, failing to levy such a charge on the broadband supplier is a major failing. How many people buy blank disc for their copying these days. Hasn't the government heard of MP3 and Ipods!
For 20 years prior to moving to Spain I was an Intellectual Property lawyer in, primarily, the music business. In fact my move and establishment of my current business was partly as a result of my conviction that the digital revolution would destroy the core Intellectual Property of creators.
The Whitford Commitee in the mid 1980's whose Report led to the 1988 Copyright Designs and Patents Act considered what was then called a "blank tape levy" - check the technology refernce - and rejected it on the basis that it would be unworkable and largely impossible to distribute once collected. This was in the face of examples throughout Europe, particularly in France, where such levies had been applied and continue to apply with great success - pre Digital Revolution.
A levy alone will not "cure" the piracy issue which is now already too "corporate" and sophisticated. The only real weapons at the disposal of creators are technical solutions which make copying on and off line impossible. Systems exist which don't damage the quality of the underlying material.
More importantly there is a need to address certain social thinking and behaviour where it is not regarded as being in anyway wrong to ripped a copy of a legitimate album using a basic computer and Ipod. It is increasingly usual amongst young music fans to share music. Which is great for the music business in many ways as it stimulates the word of mouth and is the kind of promotion that cannot be bought. However, we must realise that the purchase of moody copies of will have a gradual destructive effect on a sector where as Eric Nicoli the Chairman of EMI writing to the Sunday Times last week explained that as a company they put 20% of revenues into A&R - artists and repertoire. The aim being to create the Coldplay's of tomorrow. Without these revenues the corporate creative process will falter.
Music particularly is not an expensive product. Of course it is if you compare a €17.50 album with a "lookie lookie" mans €5 bootleg. At $.99 per track from a legitimate on line delivery company who will account to the artists, record companies songwriters and music publishers this is good value for money.
Above all the Internet has caused us all to believe that there is, again, huge interest in new music which is excellent. However we must all be a little more responsible and however tempting reject buying a copy of the new Red Hot Chilli Peppers album whilst we soak the sun on the beach.
Regards,
Mark
Here my earlier note now without typos!!!
Very interesting to see the Spanish government taking this step. However let's face it, failing to levy such a charge on the broadband supplier is a major failing. How many people buy blank disc for their copying these days. Hasn't the government heard of MP3 and Ipods!
For 20 years prior to moving to Spain I was an Intellectual Property lawyer in, primarily, the music business. In fact my move and establishment of my current business was partly as a result of my conviction that the digital revolution would destroy the core Intellectual Property of creators.
The Whitford Commitee in the mid 1980's whose Report led to the 1988 Copyright Designs and Patents Act considered what was then called a "blank tape levy" - check the technology refernce - and rejected it on the basis that it would be unworkable and largely impossible to distribute once collected. This was in the face of examples throughout Europe, particularly in France, where such levies had been applied and continue to apply with great success - pre Digital Revolution.
A levy alone will not "cure" the piracy issue which is now already too "corporate" and sophisticated. The only real weapons at the disposal of creators are technical solutions which make copying on and off line impossible. Systems exist which don't damage the quality of the underlying material.
More importantly there is a need to address certain social thinking and behaviour where it is not regarded as being in anyway wrong to ripped a copy of a legitimate album using a basic computer and Ipod. It is increasingly usual amongst young music fans to share music. Which is great for the music business in many ways as it stimulates the word of mouth and is the kind of promotion that cannot be bought. However, we must realise that the purchase of moody copies of will have a gradual destructive effect on a sector where as Eric Nicoli the Chairman of EMI writing to the Sunday Times last week explained that as a company they put 20% of revenues into A&R - artists and repertoire. The aim being to create the Coldplay's of tomorrow. Without these revenues the corporate creative process will falter.
Music particularly is not an expensive product. Of course it is if you compare a €17.50 album with a "lookie lookie" mans €5 bootleg. At $.99 per track from a legitimate on line delivery company who will account to the artists, record companies songwriters and music publishers this is good value for money.
Above all the Internet has caused us all to believe that there is, again, huge interest in new music which is excellent. However we must all be a little more responsible and however tempting reject buying a copy of the new Red Hot Chilli Peppers album whilst we soak the sun on the beach.
Regards,
Mark
Paul Resnikoff
26 Jun 2006, 03:56
26 Jun 2006, 03:56
Hi Mark,
Do you by any chance have access to more information about the latest proposal? I am trying to get a definitive list of what is being charged - CDs, memory sticks, mobile phones, but other things as well?
Thanks so much - I'd appreciate any additional documentation that you have.
paul resnikoff > founder > editor > digital music news > 310.928.1498
Do you by any chance have access to more information about the latest proposal? I am trying to get a definitive list of what is being charged - CDs, memory sticks, mobile phones, but other things as well?
Thanks so much - I'd appreciate any additional documentation that you have.
paul resnikoff > founder > editor > digital music news > 310.928.1498
Mark Wilkins
26 Jun 2006, 08:25
26 Jun 2006, 08:25
Hi Paul,
I suggest you contact the author Howard Brereton, the principal of this site, or alternatively SGAE - the Spanish equivalent to ASCAP/BMI. They can be got on www.sgae.es (click "Idioma" to get an English feed) or speak to Antonio Alferez (34) on 616 48 94 54.
aalferez@sgae.es
Regards,
Mark
I suggest you contact the author Howard Brereton, the principal of this site, or alternatively SGAE - the Spanish equivalent to ASCAP/BMI. They can be got on www.sgae.es (click "Idioma" to get an English feed) or speak to Antonio Alferez (34) on 616 48 94 54.
aalferez@sgae.es
Regards,
Mark
Pablo
28 Jun 2006, 03:46
28 Jun 2006, 03:46
This is medieval extortion. I am paying someone with whom I don't have any
relationship for a good I never got. The last time I copied a music CD must
have been about 5 years ago. However, I need blank CDs for my work weekly.
I don't care if someone's deprecated business model is sinking. Stop making
Spain a less competitive place by raising prices for private benefit. SGAE
mobsters, here's an idea: Get a job, a real one, and stop stealing my
money.
renato dall'armi
28 Jun 2006, 10:01
28 Jun 2006, 10:01
The ramifications of the law are unclear. Does the use of a "properly
taxed" cd/dvd make the content legitimate? Meaning by using a properly
taxed media do you acquire
the right to use the content? if you do not that is estortion if you do, it is a bargain.
BTW blank CDS and DVDs are so expensive in Spain anyway it is cheaper to get them by mail from other european countries, but still this is an importan matter by principals
the right to use the content? if you do not that is estortion if you do, it is a bargain.
BTW blank CDS and DVDs are so expensive in Spain anyway it is cheaper to get them by mail from other european countries, but still this is an importan matter by principals
John Thompson
28 Jun 2006, 13:14
28 Jun 2006, 13:14
this is utterly stupid...how are they gonna determine just whats on the
'blank' cd...it could be personal pictures of your family...so since i'm
the copyright holder...do they send me the 'canon' or whatever these
spamaird call it...lol
Andre
28 Jun 2006, 16:46
28 Jun 2006, 16:46
Does the bill determin who is a copyright holder? This is an important
issue since anyone who creates work, even if it is a home video has
copyright to their work, unless they the definition has moved to 'anyone
creating content, but is capable of making trouble for us'.
I think some noise needs to be made in this regards.
I think some noise needs to be made in this regards.
Anonymous
29 Jun 2006, 10:02
29 Jun 2006, 10:02
In Denmark we had such a levy introduced on blank medias a couple of yers
ago.. the only thing that happened was that the sale in Denmark all but
dissapeared. Now everybody buys their media in Germany instead.
Tony
29 Jun 2006, 12:22
29 Jun 2006, 12:22
Should I then consider myself free to copy any music or movies now? After
all, the copyright holders will receive compensation, won't they?
SGAE will use their magic powers to determine how many euros to pay to every copyright holder that gets my attention.
Nah.
SGAE will use their magic powers to determine how many euros to pay to every copyright holder that gets my attention.
Nah.
IE6.0
03 Jul 2006, 10:11
03 Jul 2006, 10:11
Zuasiland, July 3, 2016
The local parliament, today, voted for a new law implementing a USD 100 plus a 15% of the retail price of a knife for each and any knife being sold in within the boundaries of this country.
The new tax will be used for the relief of the relatives of victims murdered or for persons otherwise injured or abused by knife.
The local parliament, today, voted for a new law implementing a USD 100 plus a 15% of the retail price of a knife for each and any knife being sold in within the boundaries of this country.
The new tax will be used for the relief of the relatives of victims murdered or for persons otherwise injured or abused by knife.
Please keep to the subject. Opinions published here are of our visitors, not the Typically Spanish team. Comments which go against Spanish laws or which are libellous are not allowed. We reserve the right to delete any comment we wish.
Por favor, céntrate en el tema. Son las opiniones de los internautas, y no las de Typically Spanish. No está permitido verter comentarios contrarios a las leyes españolas o injuriantes. Reservado el derecho a eliminar los comentarios que consideremos fuera de tema.
Por favor, céntrate en el tema. Son las opiniones de los internautas, y no las de Typically Spanish. No está permitido verter comentarios contrarios a las leyes españolas o injuriantes. Reservado el derecho a eliminar los comentarios que consideremos fuera de tema.
