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| Webmasters |
"Only one thing is impossible for God:
To find any sense in any copyright law on the planet."
-Mark Twain |
Webmasters are being
sued for using commercially made MIDI files, and
others are being strongly warned that they must
remove certain songs from their pages.
These pages deal mostly with the lawsuits.
For those who have already received a summons, or
been told by your server that you must remove your
site, there is nothing we can do, except provide
support. Hopefully, something you learn here will
give you some ideas on how to deal with the
situation.
We have also attempted to help the webmaster solve
this problem before it becomes a problem for them by
warning them. |
We
MUST put an end to the lawsuits, involving
copyright infringement
on no profit personal websites. |
The suits are being filed for millions
of dollars, in California, and then they are settled
out of court. The issue never sees the inside of a court
room so the plaintiff never has to prove anything.
In the end, the defendant feels as if he or she has
been raped by not only the plaintiff, but the justice
system. |
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| True Story |
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You are so excited! You have learned
to make a web site.
You search the web for some music and find it in a collection
site. The site says, "These MIDIs are free for the taking".
It even tells you how to download for use on your Web
Site.
Maybe you realize that there are copyright laws to be
considered, but maybe you don't. Those of you who do think
about it and have the knowledge and ability to look inside
the MIDI file, do so.
"Good," you say to yourself, "I really like this one and
there is no copyright information on it."
You put it on your site.
One day the Sheriff knocks on your door and hands you
a summons. You are being sued by Tryco Music International
for millions of dollars.
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Your nightmare
has begun. |
You don't really understand what you
have done wrong.
You had a note on your site, saying, " if there is anything
on this site that belongs to anyone and you don't want
it here, contact me and I will take it off." But no one
ever contacted you about doing that.
Chances are, you have never had to deal with the federal
court system and you have no idea where to start.
You look for a lawyer, but find that there are none in
your area that know what you are talking about.
You turn to the family lawyer, who tells you this is out
of his area of expertise, but he will try to help. All
this time, you are sure you did nothing wrong and your
emotions are tied up in knots.
You only have 20 days to
respond to the court, and that includes
holidays and weekends. It also includes those days
that your lawyer is in court or on the golf course.
There is no return address on the summons and no instructions
as to how to file a response.
Realizing that you know more about the internet than your
lawyer, you are sure that you will be able to find some
information and help. Eventually you do, but it takes
time.
In the meantime, precious hours and days are ticking away.
Finally, you get a response put together and get it sent
to the right address.
The first thing you have asked for is to have the case
moved to your state. The judge says,
"No" Even though you have
never been in California, you are alleged to have stolen
something from there. Even though you have a
"no profit site" , the judge
says that since your web site reaches the people in this
state, you are "doing business"
there. So you don't get your change of venue.
So, now, you must hire a California lawyer. You need to
find one that will have YOUR best interests at heart,
not one that also works with the music industry. You may
have to make, at least, one trip there, at your own expense.
There will be a retainer fee just to talk to a lawyer.
This ranges from $1,000.00 to $10,000.00.
All this makes settling out of court for thousands instead
of millions, seem an attractive alternative. The plaintiff
calls you, puts a lot of pressure on your jagged nerves,
and you accept his settlement. And
he goes on to his next victim.
If you don't believe it,
click here This page contains letters that we have
received from people who have met Mr. Kern.
If you don't still don't believe it,
click here
This is a copy of the California Court
pages. It tells you who has been sued, when and for how
much, along with the final outcome.
(the pages will open in another window, so you don't
lose this one.)
There are two reasons for telling you this
true story. First is so you
can protect yourself, and second is that if this man wants
his files off the net, we would like to help him.
This site has a list of the songs that he claims that
he has created MIDI files for, so you can check your site
to see if you have any of those songs. Then you can look
inside the file and make sure it has the name of the file's
creator. If you see TMI,
Trycho Music International,
or Stephen Kern, or if there
is NO information, immediately
delete the file. I am sure he will be grateful.
If you don't know how to look inside a file, you will
find help on this site.
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In addition to the above problem, most
of the MIDIs on the net, have been made with songs that
are under copyright protection. These are songs that are
written after 1923. I don't know about you, but I feel
this in obscene and insane.
You can use them, but you have to deal with 3 or 4 music
agencies to get permission. Of course, that permission
does not come cheap. It sounds reasonable to deal with
the Harry Fox Agency, when you are talking about only
7¢ per song. However, that is 7¢ every time someone comes
to your site and downloads or listens to a song.
So if you have 100 songs and 300 people per day listen
to that song you owe, the Harry Fox Agency
$766,500.00 a year.
However, that is not the end. Then you have to deal with
ASCAP, BMI and possibly other music agencies, where the
charges start at $1500.00
and up, per year.
We are talking about music on free
personal sites, not commercial sites, and
free MIDI collection sites,
where ordinary people can go to get free music for their
web pages or just listen to the music. There are no charges
for 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
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Part of our goal is to show, with expert witnesses, that
the MIDI is not copyrightable. And, if a MIDI is not copyrightable,
as a "phonorecord", the music is not subject to the Copyright
Act, and there would be no infringement.
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That should put
an end to threats from the music industry.
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However, we would still have to deal
with the above scenario, as MIDI files could still be
copyrighted as files, just not as "phonorecords" (music)
as stated by the Copyright Office .
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Our long term goal is to exempt people
when they are sharing , and
no profit is being made.
Our plan is to ask Congress to add the Personal Web Site
to the Fair Use section of the Copyright Act. Of course,
those sites must follow the existing Fair Use guidelines.
Since that would take an act of Congress, and we all know
that Congress works at a very slow pace, we first need
to concentrate on stopping the lawsuits, before the personal
web page becomes extinct and the net becomes silent.
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 just use one song
as background music.
The cancer is affecting everyone on the web that deals
with MIDIs. Whether you are a webmaster putting background
music on your pages, or a surfer who enjoys the relaxation
of a good web site.
Hundreds of web sites are closing
in fear that they will be the next victim of a lawsuit.
The web will become nothing more than a place to collect
information or buy something, with a sprinkling of hate
and porn sites, thrown in.
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What can you do to protect yourself
from one of these lawsuits?
Click on the button |
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| Support |
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You may send questions or suggestions to:
David M. McLean
MRA
Director
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| Free The Midis |
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This is a living site that will
change
and grow constantly.
Be sure to save and come back
often.
I have tried very hard to stay with
only facts on this site. I have checked and double checked.
A problem is not solved using rumors or elaborating
on someone's guess work. If there is anything on this
web site that is my only opinion, I will qualify the
statement.
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Freedom
of speech is fine, as long as it does not hurt anyone.
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This site is protected by the "Fair
Use"
section of the Copyright Law.
ie: Educational
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