New twist on stealing copyrighted material....

pdlstl · Post by **pdlstl** » 12 Mar 2001 10:52 am

After trying to keep up with the John Hughey/Napster saga, I would like to pose a few questions for those on this forum who produce instructional materials for the pedal steel.

Do you think that any of your copyrighted material (tapes, instructional manuals etc.) has ever been copied and shared?

And if so, do you think you've lost out on a substantial amount of money because of this practice?

In your honest opinion, who do you think would do this?

Just curious....

Earl Clark
Fort Worth Tx

Tom Olson · Post by **Tom Olson** » 13 Mar 2001 8:31 pm

I don't produce instructional material, so I probably don't qualify to answer, but I thought I'd throw my 2 cents in anyway.

It seems that there's always been some degree of "pirating" going on with recorded and printed material. That is, somebody will by a record or a book and will let his friend make a copy of it. Or maybe two people will go in together and buy a record and both will tape it and split the cost. However, this kind of thing is probably a relatively small percentage of people who buy such recordings and books. Besides, there really isn't much that can practically be done about that sort of thing.

The thing about Napster is that it's making the music available to many many more people and so it's illegal copying on a much bigger scale. It's not just one or two friends making a copy, it's thousands and thousands of people.

Bobby Boggs · Post by **Bobby Boggs** » 13 Mar 2001 9:23 pm

I'm betting it's the guy who makes 1 or 2 copies for his friends,who in turn make a copy for one or two for their friends that cost (Steelers) far more than Napster.Think about it.What percentage of steelers are on line? 5 percent? I'm asking here?And what percentage of online steelers down load from Napster?I'm not saying it's right.It's not.I have never down loaded anything from Napster,hell I can't even download a manual from Peavey.But I think it's small potatoes compaired to the bootleg tapes and CD's friends are making for friends.And I'll bet there's not 1 steeler on here, pro or non pro who doesn't have at least 1 boot leg tape.I guess we steelers are more to blame than anyone that the Super Pros can't make enough money to justify doing more recordings.As for the Non Super Pros I think most of us record just to show every one how good we think we are, and showcase ourselves.Nothing wrong with that.If any money is made then that's icing on the cake.Just my thoughts! bb

Ken Lang · Post by **Ken Lang** » 13 Mar 2001 9:47 pm

For more years than I'd like to remember, I've taped songs off the radio to learn them. Is that any different, other than perhaps quality, than napster?

As a member of BMI I understand the ripoff, but as someone who doesn't want to spend $15 to learn one song off a cd, where is the compromise?

I've never visited napster, and I don't rip songs to just play on my deck. Those I buy.

Tom Olson · Post by **Tom Olson** » 13 Mar 2001 10:11 pm

If somebody is stupid enough to spend time standing at a copy machine and 10 cents or so per page to copy an instructional book than he/she should go right ahead and do it. Heck, you can buy a 120 page instructional book for $20, so if you want to save $8 by standing at a copy machine then go for it!

If this type of thing is hurting Steelers so bad, than why hasn't anybody said anything about it before?

On the other hand, why so much commotion about Napster? Because it's costing artists and record companies millions of dollars.

What's the difference in taping a song off the radio and downloading one from Napster? The difference is spelled M - O - N - E - Y! Do you think anyone is making money from that record you taped off the radio? Hell YES they are!!! Ever heard of royalties? Radio play = royalties. So, who cares whether you tape a song off the radio? The owner of the song is still making royalties. Are royalties being made when a thousand people download a song off of Napster from one CD? You tell me.

Kevin Walker · Post by **Kevin Walker** » 14 Mar 2001 6:26 pm

Ken,
My thoughts EXACTLY! Everybody I've ever played in a band with for the past 20 years, has made tapes off of the radio, other tapes,etc. to compile practice tapes. I own alot of material, but I'm not buying a $20.00 CD to pull one half-playable song from among the other 12 to fifteen losers.

Bobby Lee · Post by **Bobby Lee** » 14 Mar 2001 6:42 pm

<SMALL>What's the difference in taping a song off the radio and downloading one from Napster?</SMALL>

Audio compression, DJs talking over the intro/outro, and sound quality are the biggest differences that come to mind.

John Lacey · Post by **John Lacey** » 15 Mar 2001 5:57 am

If you lived in the boonies in Canada or U.S. during the 70's-90's, you had little access to steel guitar related materials, especially LP's and cassettes. The pirating grew out of a need to hear them and a lack of marketing.