Dear
(put in name),
Have you surfed the net or had someone send you
a "personal web site"? Maybe it was funny or was
someone's own story of an illness. Maybe it told
of a tragic death, or was a free card or
sing-along site.
The thing in common with these sites is
beautiful music and graphics. To support these
pages, you'll find sites that allow you to
download free graphics and MIDI files
(electronic music). Some of these pictures and
music were created by the webmasters, and some
were collected from around the net and grouped
together on one site.
People are being encouraged by servers to "build
your own site." There are instructions on how to
add music and graphics to web pages. There are
millions of such sites, made by hobbyist
webmasters and they are what makes the web a
wonderful inspiration, to those who see them.
What I would like to address here is copyright
infringement and the MIDI file. MIDI stands for
Musical Instrument Digital Interface.
The MIDI file, unlike the music being shared by
Napster, is a data file. It is not music. It
consists of instructions to the sound card to
play sounds. In their inane wisdom, the
copyright office has come to the decision that a
MIDI file is a "fixed recordable device," as is
necessary for an item to be considered
copyrightable as music. This puts millions of
MIDI files under the control of, not only the
person who made the file, but the music
industry, as well.
In the case of Napster, copies of CDs are just
that--copies. You can copy the CD, but you can't
change it. A MIDI file is a data file, and data
files can be changed. You can edit a MIDI file
and change the instructions to make a violin
sound like a piano. You can change the
instructions for the sound of a tone to go from
C to F sharp. More importantly, you can change
or delete the copyright information.
There are stiff penalties for doing this, but no
one ever leaves fingerprints. The law seems
unenforceable. No one knows who the originator
is, and the question then comes up, if a MIDI
file is altered, who does it belong to, the
original author or the new author? Is it a new
MIDI file? It certainly is not the same as it
was before.
These altered MIDI files have been passed around
the net for 15 years or more. Once the copyright
information has been removed, no one knows who
the file "belongs" to. Most authors don't care.
Many authors don't include copyright information
in the MIDI file when they create it. They make
these files, as a hobby, to give away.
Why would someone do this? Each has his own
reason. However, I am sure a lot of it has to do
with the feedback they receive. Some ask that a
link back to the author's site be included with
the use of the music. That is the name of the
game--who can get the most "hits" to their page.
What is happening on the net now, is that some
commercial MIDI sites are upset. I am assuming
that their sales are not what they would like.
With the publicity over Napster and their
copyright problems, these webmasters have become
aware that they also can sue.
One of our members has heard from a man, in
Australia, who spends his time going around the
net finding MIDI files containing copyright
information that the file "belongs" to a
commercial company. He then writes to the
webmasters warning them to take down their sites
and destroy all their MIDI files, or he will
inform the "owners" that they have them. This
letter contains threats of contacting the FBI
and threats of huge fines and jail.
Another man, in California, just goes to the
court and starts court proceedings. He sues for
millions and then settles out of court for less
than what it would cost to hire a lawyer.
($10,000 retainer fee). He is using the court
system to get money that he can't earn from
selling his second-rate MIDI files.
You may think this is an urban legend (a rumor
that is rampant on the net) but I can assure you
it is not. Some members of our group are victims
of these lawsuits. We have looked at the
California court system pages, and these
lawsuits are all listed there. The sad thing is,
this man never has to prove anything in court.
He just files the lawsuit, bullies the
defendant, and takes home the money by settling
out of court, with the stamp of approval of our
"justice" system.
In addition to the above problem, most of the
MIDI files on the net have been made of "songs"
that are still under copyright protection. These
are songs that are less than 75 years old. You
can use the newer songs, but you have to deal
with three or four music agencies to obtain
permission. Of course, that permission does not
come cheap. It sounds reasonable to deal with
the Harry Fox Agency when you are talking about
paying only 7¢ per song for the licensing fee.
However, that is 7¢ every time someone comes to
your site and downloads or listens to a song, in
addition to the minimum $35.50 fee to register
each song that is made available on your web
site.
If you have 100 songs and 300 people per day
listen to that song, you owe the Harry Fox
Agency $766,500.00 per year. However, that is
not the end. Then you have to deal with ASCAP,
BMI, and other music agencies, for which the
charges start at $1,500.00 per year.
We are talking about music on "free" personal
sites (not commercial sites) and free MIDI file
collection sites where ordinary people can go to
get free music for their web pages. There are no
charges to anyone. It is just people enjoying a
hobby and sharing with other people.
The people who developed the MIDI, back in the
60s, have stated that the MIDI is not
copyrightable, because it is not a fixed medium,
as stated in the Copyright Act.
A quote from the U. S. Copyright Office...
"In a response to a similar inquiry, the Office
stated that such material objects embodying MIDI
files would appear to qualify as phonorecords
under section 10, but, ultimately, this would be
a question for a court to determine." *
*taken from a letter from the Copyright Office
to Senator Richard Shelby on behalf of Master
Sequencer: Frank W Schober
Our goal is to exempt people when they are
sharing music and no profit is being made. That
will take an act of Congress, so we need your
help, and we need it now.
We don't want to change anything that is already
in the law, just add the personal web page to
the fair use section. Since the personal web
page has not yet been addressed, and the reasons
for having it here are plentiful, we see no
problem. However, we are a small, basically
unfunded group, so we need your help.
This is a serious matter. If you use the search
engine, AltaVista, and type in the word "MIDI,"
you will come up with over 2 million sites. That
does not include the millions of pages that use
just one song as background music. These sites
are disappearing.
Web sites are closing in fear that they will be
the next victim of a lawsuit. If these sites go
down, there will be no place for the fun or
inspirational pages to get their music. The net
will be a much sadder place. It will become
nothing more than a silent university and
marketplace with more than a sprinkling of porn
and hate sites.
You, in the media, know how to bring a problem
like this before the people. We really need your
help. We reach 300 to 400 people per day, but
you can reach millions.
Please help! Tomorrow it could be you or your
child who is sued!
For more information see
http://free-the-midi.com
Please do not make changes, except the "To
Whom," when you send this letter without consent
of
David M. McLean
MRA
Director
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