That Italian Dj who got busted bigtime recently.

theofficials · Post by **theofficials** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 3:22 pm

Don't suppose anyone actually knows who this guy was then cus the article I've jsut finished reading simply stated the mp3's he'd illegally downloaded and burnt to cdr - he was then going on to use out and about within the clubs he dj'd at..

Whatever next?!? Security men not just checking for pills and weapons but also looking to flick through your cd wallet carry case checking for legal copies or worse still if you play using your laptop, a quick scan of *.mp3 on all local drives?

serves the fool right though - support the artists!

anyone else have anything to add?

computo · Post by **computo** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 3:57 pm

Its really not the DJ's responsibility. Its the club that pays dues to ASCAP, BMI and SESAC, so frankly, we all should be up in arms about this. The plain fact of the matter is, we as musicians, have a right to have "illegal" mp3's.

Its called Fair Use...whether that translates to using mp3's for shows, I dont know, but If there IS someone trying to horn in on your stuff, sticking their nose in your business, ESPECIALLY if you are a performer, You have every right to tell them to Fuck off. We all need to watch our asses right now, because we are the first to be attacked.

Could you go into a bit more depth on this story, or maybe a link?

-Computo

therarekind · Post by **therarekind** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 4:31 pm

computo wrote:The plain fact of the matter is, we as musicians, have a right to have "illegal" mp3's.

Its called Fair Use...

Believe me, I'm not trying to pick a fight here, but I find it difficult to understand how Fair Use applies to a DJ bringing thousand of illegal tracks to perform with at a show. The basis of Fair Use laws (at least in the US) is meant to enable the public to critique and comment on works (ie. write a song/book/movie review, quote an article in research and even provide teacher/professors with real-world material to use in their lessons). The entire point of Fair Use is to provide the public with unbiased information. Otherwise, artists could very easily bring legal action against anyone who writes a negative review of their work.

Conversely, I certainly don't believe the DJ in this case deserved what s/he got. If s/he was planning to record the performance and sell it for profit, well, that's a problem.

Bottom line is that we're beginning to enter a grey area and there are going to be a lot of victims.

dirtystudios · Post by **dirtystudios** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 4:35 pm

computo wrote:Its really not the DJ's responsibility. Its the club that pays dues to ASCAP, BMI and SESAC, so frankly, we all should be up in arms about this. The plain fact of the matter is, we as musicians, have a right to have "illegal" mp3's.

ooo, that's an interesting point. i forgot about the fact that clubs have already paid for the right to play the music. i wonder if this does in fact mean that since the rights to play it are secured, it doesn't matter how the music is acquired. any law-type folk in here want to speculate?

k

tanith · Post by **tanith** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 5:16 pm

one would normally think so, but as it is with twisted lawstuff and especially things concerning music in the last few years it is other than your normal sense of right and wrong. here in germany you're not even allowed to play your burned CDs, as you only bought the rights to play the original CD. they have guys from GEMA (german equivalent to RIAA) checking clubs if the DJs are playing burned CDs and if they do, the club has to pay more to them. so you payed taxes for the medium, for the original and the club pays taxes for playing the stuff, but you're still not allowed to play from any CD than the original.
Sideeffect: the flatrate for CDmedium and from the club does not support the genre or artist but it makes the rich more rich, as the allocation formula gives most money out of that income to those who already have the most. Honi soit qui mal y pense.
it will be interesting to see how this is gonna be handled if more and more creative commons tracks are played in clubs, which is gonna happen for sure in the near future.

computo · Post by **computo** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 11:02 pm

seeing as there's no link posted here in reference to the original story, I can honsetly say, I think this story is garbage. I think its probably a rumor.

The plain fact is it would be difficult to prove, within legal bounds, that those mp3s were illegally obtained.

Also, I agree, that brought into public performance that the boundaries of Fair Use are crossed, but Fair Use is pretty widely applicable...even potentially to those who are students of music...

-Computo

robin · Post by **robin** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 11:13 pm

i think computo's got it. this italian guy never existed. it's a fake news story started by the italian RIAA/BPI

if you'd been busted for millions of euro i'd at least want to talk about it in the press afterwards. it hasn't happened, he doesn't exist.

got us all thinking tho eh? which i guess to a certain extent is no bad thing.

malarky · Post by **malarky** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 11:16 pm

not a rumor...

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtm ... ID=7651166

robin · Post by **robin** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 11:36 pm

the story has been widely reported but that doesn't prove he exists.

minimal · Post by **minimal** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 11:45 pm

robin wrote:the story has been widely reported but that doesn't prove he exists.

it can sound like "punish one to educate hundreds"

malarky · Post by **malarky** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 11:47 pm

robin wrote:the story has been widely reported but that doesn't prove he exists.

that's certainly a possibility. propaganda is alive and well these days.

i was just showing that the article itself existed. i think i saw it reported in cnn.com or something as well.

computo · Post by **computo** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 12:04 am

I found a report also, but WOW what good investigating for a bunch of musicians! It makes me feel good that at least we're all aware of whats going on around us.

Funny though, in the article I found also, no name!

sounds mysterious...Very "propaganda-esque"...

-Computo

robin · Post by **robin** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 12:11 am

yeah fair enough malarky.

i saw it all over the place but it's a story reported by media companies, about something that media companies are obsessed with currently.

i see conspiracies everywhere i look tho, doesn't mean they exist

malarky · Post by **malarky** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 12:27 am

i see your point. though i can also see why someone that may have a well known name in the business would not want to make a public statement and make himself known to the world as the guy who was caught with thousands of illegal mp3's. sure, some would back him. but many would despise him for it. it would ruin his name.

then again, i've generally only known the media to give anonymity to victims of crimes and not someone being accused of one - particularly well known individuals. so either this practice is different in italy, or perhaps this really was just a fabricated scare tactic.

kent_sandvik · Post by **kent_sandvik** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 12:33 am

Whatever happened, using music commercially that one has not received officially, is declared free, or paid for personally, is just plain wrong. The ones making music needs to get food to their tables, too. --Kent