Create Remixed Music...All We Need is Attribution

There is no doubt in my mind that the music industry is slightly being hurt by piracy.  Mostly everyone does it, and as the chapter on piracy suggests, I believe there are four types of "pirates."  Three out of these four ways are not harmful to the music industry.  I know for myself as mentioned in a previous post, I often download music to see what it is like.  I refuse to spend money on trash.  When I see that I like the album, then I'll go support the artist.  It's not piracy hurting the music industry, it is the industry hurting itself.

It seems the industry just up and got greedy.  If customers are paying $1 per song on iTunes, how on Earth is it possible for the RIAA to sue for $250,000 per song?  That's completely insane.  After watching Remix Manifesto, I learned the artists don't even see that money, only the record company.  Isn't the whole fuss over the intellectual property of the artists?  Shouldn't they be the ones who benefit?  It is just a way for a higher power to benefit for themselves instead of the general public.  It is the same way with the medical industry.  These companies are holding onto copyrights over plants and medicines that could provide cures for the general public.  However, they too are only thinking of themselves.

As far as where I stand on the issue of ripping music to create new things, I think it should be allowed.  It makes no sense that we are only allowed to use written sources to prove a point or create something new for free.  Any other form requires us to pay someone off even if we have attribution.  If everything builds on the past, at some point the music industry will have to wake up and realize they need to allow things under Fair Use.  Through all the remixing, the artists may even get new fans.  Personally, I love hearing sampled music in songs.  It makes me go back to hear the original song.  Piracy just seems to be the wrong word.  I call it creation.  Until we have newer generations in charge of copyrights, older generations will continue to not see how much times have changed.  They need to adapt to the change if they want to curb "piracy."