CopyNight Nashville

CopyNight Nashville Message

9:24 PM, Central Sunny Day Light Savings Time, March 21, 2007
Dear CopyNighters:
Happy 27th hour of Spring!
I will not be able to make it to our next CopyNight meeting (7:00 PM, Wednesday, March 28, 2007). If anyone else is interested in hosting this meeting, please contact me. (615-791-7455; emh666@aol.com)
I will be speaking to the Digital Millennium Copyright Society at Middle Tennessee State University (I hear they call it M-T-S-U) the following night (6:30 PM, Thursday, March 29, 2007) at the John Bragg Mass Comm Bldg, Rm 151. The title: "Mashups, MP3's, New Issues and Challenges in Music Copyright: Real Life Copyright Issues From A Music Expert Witness." If you are free and want to drive to the Southeastern edge of the world, down I-24 for dozens of miles, please come on out.
The mission statement of the Digital Millennium Copyright Society:
"The Digital Millennium Copyright Society aims to educate its members through
active debate and research into new and futuristic aspects of intellectual property
and the creative industries. By engaging compelling and informative speakers,
DMCS gives members unique opportunities to build substantial networks and gain
unique insight into the ever changing world of copyright."

Also, Leadership Music's 2007 Digital Summit will take place on Belmont Blvd., Nashville, on Tuesday, April 24, 2007. Fortunately, I am not speaking at that this year. I can simply sit back and listen, and be grateful that I do not think like David Israelite or those who think the copyright term should be the life of God plus 70 years. Here is the schedule:
http://digitalsummit.org/schedule.html
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Wow - this article seems to be the buzz of almost every one of the email societies to which I belong:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB117444575607043728.html?mod=hps_us_pageone

Here's the opening of today's front page Wall Street Journal dirge:

Sales of Music,
Long in Decline,
Plunge Sharply
Rise in Downloading
Fails to Boost Industry;
A Retailing Shakeout
By ETHAN SMITH
March 21, 2007
In a dramatic acceleration of the seven-year sales decline that has battered the music industry, compact-disc sales for the first three months of this year plunged 20% from a year earlier, the latest sign of the seismic shift in the way consumers acquire music.
The sharp slide in sales of CDs, which still account for more than 85% of music sold, has far eclipsed the growth in sales of digital downloads, which were supposed to have been the industry's salvation.
[Music]
The slide stems from the confluence of long-simmering factors that are now feeding off each other, including the demise of specialty music retailers like longtime music mecca Tower Records. About 800 music stores, including Tower's 89 locations, closed in 2006 alone.
Apple Inc.'s sale of around 100 million iPods shows that music remains a powerful force in the lives of consumers. But because of the Internet, those consumers have more ways to obtain music now than they did a decade ago, when walking into a store and buying it was the only option.
Today, popular songs and albums -- and countless lesser-known works -- can be easily found online, in either legal or pirated forms. While the music industry hopes that those songs will be purchased through legal services like Apple's iTunes Store, consumers can often listen to them on MySpace pages or download them free from other sources, such as so-called MP3 blogs.
Jeff Rabhan, who manages artists and music producers including Jermaine Dupri, Kelis and Elliott Yamin, says CDs have become little more than advertisements for more-lucrative goods like concert tickets and T-shirts. "Sales are so down and so off that, as a manager, I look at a CD as part of the marketing of an artist, more than as an income stream," says Mr. Rabhan. "It's the vehicle that drives the tour, the merchandise, building the brand, and that's it. There's no money."

YIKES....... What a century in which we live!
Hope all is well. See you in April, or sooner.
E. Michael

Beatallica in Nashville. CopyNight Nashville Message

Dear CopyNighters:
I have good news to report, and an invitation for you. On Wednesday, March 14, 2007, at 10 AM, in Belmont's MPAC, Michael Tierney, leader and founder of Beatallica, and I will be talking, playing, spinning and airing a lot of music, video and copyright stuff. This is from my blog tonight:

"BEATALLICA

ANYONE who is in Nashville and free on Wednesday, March 14 at 10:00 AM, should come hear Beatallica's Jaymz Lennfield and I speak about music, video and copyright and play examples of music and video by Beatallica, Metallica, the Beatles, Jay-Z and more. We will be participating in an event at the Massey Performing Arts Center, 1900 Belmont Blvd., Nashville."

Harry Chapman will moderate this. And this is unscripted. Unscripted as hell! It will last for less than one hour. I hope you can join us and meet Jaymz.
Call/write if you have any questions. Hope to see you soon,
E. Michael
615-460-5473
615-791-7455
emh666@aol.com

CopyNight Nashville Message

Dear Friends/CopyNighters:
Our February meeting will be this Wednesday, February 28, 2007, 7 PM at Tabouli's (2015 Belmont Blvd.). Topics for discussion could include Steve Jobs and his call for freedom from DRM (when he will ax Apple's "FairPlay?"), BitTorrent's plans to open a digital media store (http://news.com.com/2100-1025_3-6161944.html), the Microsoft MP3 patent loss to Alcatel-Lucent (http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070222-8910.html), the next Microsoft potential loss (http://news.com.com/2100-1014_3-6161689.html), Congress (what are they doing now?) and more.
In my own copyright-related work, I am learning Akon, Snoop Dogg, T-Pain, The Game, Fifty Cent, Rascal Flatts and Keith Urban and some other things. And I'm celebrating because Manny Ramirez reported to the Boston Red Sox spring training camp today.
And there's the comedic/tragic news being made by Jet Blue, Britney Spears, Scooter Libby, Al Gore, Martin Scorcese, Pac Man, Tonya Harding and Michael Jackson.
Finally, I'd like to reiterate the mission statement of CopyNight:
"CopyNight is a monthly social gathering of people interested in restoring balance in copyright law. We meet over drinks once a month in many cities to discuss new developments and build social ties between artists, engineers, filmmakers, academics, lawyers, and many others."
Here's to social ties!
E. Michael
615-791-7455
emh666@aol.com

CopyNight Nashville Message

Saturday, July 22, 2006
Dear CopyNighters:
Our July meeting has been cancelled. We will resume CopyNight in August. I move back to New York City on August 13 - I will move back to Nashville in January 2007. Information about my work and travels will be posted on my website: www.emichaelharrington.com.
Hope all is well and to see everyone before I leave!
E. Michael

CopyNight Nashville Message

July 19, 2006
Hello CopyNighters:
Would any of you be willing to hold July's CopyNight meeting on THURSDAY (not the usual Wednesday), July 27, this month? I will be out of town and will not be able to return until that Thursday afternoon. If any of you could meet on that Thursday, please email me at emh666@aol.com. Otherwise we can hold the meeting on the usual Wednesday night (July 26).
This will be the last Nashville CopyNight I will be able to attend in 2006 as I am moving back to New York City on August 13. I will be attending New York CopyNight meetings until I return to Nashville in January 2007. (I will be making four very quick trips to Nashville this fall semester as I will be in the Leadership Music Class of 2007 but none of these will coincide with CopyNights: http://www.leadershipmusic.org/members/PDFs/Classof2007.pdf).
David Cook, a third year (3L) law student at Franklin Pierce Law Center, and co-founder and past President of the Belmont University Copyright Society, and Jennifer Kirk, ex-United States Copyright Office Senior Copyright Specialist and founding Belmont University Copyright Society secretary, have agreed to serve as the Nashville CopyNight co-administrators while I am in New York.
Please drop me a line at emh666@aol.com if you would be willing to change CopyNight to Thursday, July 27.
Thank you, and I hope all is well,
E. Michael

CopyNight Nashville Message

Dear CopyNighters:
I hope that you have had a great June. I am just returning from two excellent weeks in Boston but am enjoying being back here.
There is so much going on now in Congress and much of it has been renamed, reconfigured and expanded. But the principal thrust of the legislation will enable the content providers to extert more control over what consumers can do, and to eliminate or sharply constrict traditional fair use.
Here are some of the names of bills that contain "broadcast flags," "digital radio flags," and attempts to "patch" the "analog hole" and make our world more Orwellian:

"Communications, Consumer's Choice, and Broadband Deployment Act"
"Platform Equality and Remedies for Rights Holders in Music Act" (PERFORM ACT)
"Communications Opportunity, Promotion, and Enhancement Act of 2006" (HR 5252) (COPE Act)
GOD HELP US! Must there be an acronym for every bad piece of legislation? The winner, the biggest and baddest and most clumsily worded, is now five years old: "Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism." (PATRIOT Act)
And then there's the Section 115 Reform Act (S1RA), and more I've left out, as well as the non-governmental copyright/IP concerns.
Other new questions and concerns:
should there be a copyright for fashion design?
why is France letting up on its Apple iTunes legislation?
is DRM spreading?
will the U. S. Copyright Office continue to nurture the RIAA and MPAA by keeping that Article 1, Section 8, Clause 8 phrase off its website?
should the U. S. Copyright Office raise the basic registration fee from $30 to $45? That can be answered easily. Yes, it will take place on July 1. Other fees will be raised as well. Get registering now!
I look forward to seeing you tomorrow (Wednesday, June 28, 2006) at 7:00 PM at Tabouli's, 2015 Belmont Blvd.
Any questions, call/write.
E. Michael Harrington
615-791-7455
emh666@aol.com

CopyNight Nashville Message

Dear Nashville CopyNighters:
I would like to propose that we meet this month (this week) on THURSDAY (May 25, 2006) instead of our usual Wednesday, but at the same time and place (7:00 PM, Tabouli's, 2015 Belmont Blvd.) Next week would have been too difficult because of Memorial Day.
For June and July, I propose that we meet on the final Wednesdays of the month as has been our practice -
Wednesday, June 28
Wednesday, July 26
I will be moving back to New York City c. August 15 and stay there until c. December 15. (For those of you who might not now, I live in Manhattan every mid-August through mid-December.) While I am gone, I hope that someone would like to carry on with the CopyNight meetings. Megan Kane, the other co-host of Nashville CopyNight, has graduated and moved to Massachusetts.
So, if anyone is interested in maintaining our great CopyNight community for the last four months of 2006, please contact me offline:
emh6666@aol.com
615-791-7455
TOPICS for this week should include proposed legislation at the federal level (House and Senate) that would introduce a "tiered" Internet, restrict and/or eliminate consumers' lawful right to record video and music, the RIAA's suit against XM Radio, the lawsuit brought by various small publishers (Euro Tec Publishing, Bruce Caplin, Prestoons Music and others) against Apple Computer, AOL Music Now, Buy.com, Microsoft, Napster, RealNetworks Digital Music of California, Record Town, Sony Connect, Virgin Entertainment Group, Wal-Mart and Yahoo! for failing to secure licenses to sell downloads, the U. S. Supreme Court's decision in the patent case, EBAY INC., et al. v. MERCEXCHANGE, L. L. C., the legal threat by the estate of artist Joan Miro against Google (and their quick takedown) of "infringing" work (idiotic threat and unfortunate takedown, in my opinion), as well as whether or not such fun services/companies such as YouTube, BRAVO's Viral Videos, and La La Media will continu
e to survive.
Please call/write if you have any comments.
Hope to see everyone on Thursday at 7 PM at Tabouli's!
E. Michael

CopyNight Nashville Message

CLARIFICATION:
At the end of the message I just sent, I wrote "see you Tuesday."
No, we are meeting, as our Nashviille Chapter does, on WEDNESDAY. Sorry for the confusion - I'll use the excuse that I am sick and at home annd almost recovered. The almost part made the mistake.
Tabouli's
7:30 PM
Wednesday night
April 26, 2006
E. Michael

CopyNight Nashville mtg - Wednesday, 7:30 PM, Tabouli's

Dear Friends and CopyNighters:
I look forward to seeing you at our April CopyNight meeting on Wednesday, April 26, 2006 at 7:30 PM (normally it is at 7 PM) at Tabouli's, 2015 Belmont Blvd., (between Bongo Java and PM), Nashville.
There are numerous issues for us to discuss including the following:

Last week many of us who were in Nashville attended Leadership Music's Digital Summit (http://digitalsummit.org/schedule.html) held across the street from Tabouli's at the Curb Events Center. Except for the dour, regressive, one-sided "consumer-is-the-problem," 9:30 AM panel, this was a very good and surprisingly enlightened event.
But with any progress, comes many more obstacles and those willing to bend in any direction to serve the master lobbyists of the Music And Film Industry Association of America (MAFIAA).
The worst of all is the new digital copyright bill that the Troika - Mitch Bainwol (RIAA), Dan Glickman (MPAA) and Mary Beth Peters (U. S. Copyright Office) - are pushing upon their workers (AKA, members of the House and Senate). The Troika are taking a very bad DMCA and making it much worse.
http://news.com.com/Congress+readies+new+digital+copyright+bill/2100-1028_3-6064016.html?tag=newsmap

And as if the new North Korean-style digital copyright bill that Congress is trying to pass is not enough, this same Troika and Congress are also trying to please many of the telcoms and large corporations by radically altering the landscape of the Internet:
http://www.commoncause.org/site/pp.asp?c=dkLNK1MQIwG&b=1539607&auid=1606312
But since our last CopyNight meeting, a lot has happened and fortunately, there is a new lobbying group that can help. It is not the EFF or Public Knowledge, the two most enlightened non-academic groups, but unlike EFF and PK, this group CAN lobby. The group is:
IPAC
http://ipaction.org/
I proudly made my first donation to IPAC this afternoon. Their logo: "Defending the public interest where culture and technology meet."
I hope to see you Tuesday night at Tabouli's. Any questions, please feel free to call/write: 615-460-5473, 615-791-7455, emh666@aol.com.
E. Michael Harrington

CopyNight Nashville Message

Dear CopyNighters:
I apologize for the short notice (36 hours) but we will be having CopyNight tomorrow (Wednesday, March 29, 2006) at 7:00 PM at Tabouli's on Belmont Blvd. (our usual place).
In addition to the topics mentioned in the email from the CopyNight administrators, there is also the local copyright sensation/explosion - the new Bridgeport decision here in Nashville to discuss, as well as great new developments in France (God bless those Statue of Liberty givers!).
The Bridgeport decision has resulted in the removing from store shelves of Notorious BIG's "Ready To Die" CD - quite the drastic step in addition to the 7-figure punitive damages. In France, fines for downloading have been wildly reduced and part of the legislature has agreed that MP3 players and services must be interoperable - yes, DRM must go.
And there's more. And one of our regulars, Paul Hinman, will attend Cardozo Law School (http://www.cardozo.yu.edu/) in the Fall. Time for one of several celebrations, I'd say!
See you tomorrow. Questions/comments call me: 615-791-7455.
E. Michael

CopyNight Nashville Message

Dear Nashville Copynighters,
On Thursday, March 16, 2006 at 7:00 PM, in the Multimedia Hall of Bunch Library at Belmont University, E. Michael Harrington, Professor of Music Business and Consultant in many music copyright infringement matters, will deliver a presentation on copyright and recent music copyright infringement cases. Music by Dr. Dre, Mariah Carey, D. J. Danger Mouse, Britney Spears, Beatallica, Metallica, the Beatles, the Beastie Boys, Jib Jab, George Clinton and others that have been part of recent music copyright matters will be discussed.
This event, hosted by the Belmont University Copyright Society, www.belmontcopyright.org, is a Belmont Academic Lecture convocation.
For further information, Dr. E. Michael Harrington may be reached at 615-460-5473 (harringtone@mail.belmont.edu).
Hope to see you there!
Megan