Joe Biden to the rescue!
Of Hollywood, that is.
Biden Convenes 'Piracy Summit' That Appears To Be Entirely One-Sided
Vice President Joe Biden has long been known to be a supporter of Hollywood when it comes to making copyright laws more draconian (and, not surprisingly, Hollywood has been a strong monetary supporter of Biden campaigns). He doesn't even try to hide that he's willing to do Hollywood's bidding on copyright law. And, I don't believe I've ever heard Biden ever publicly recognize concepts like fair use or the rights of individuals. Unfortunately, it looks like the Obama White House has given Biden control over IP issues, which is why a bunch of former "anti-piracy" lawyers -- including a former Biden staffer -- are now in the Justice Department. So, I guess it should come as no surprise that Biden is convening a "piracy summit" at the White House (via Michael Geist) and the guest list appears to be entirely one-sided:
Among those expected are Sony's Michael Lynton, Warner Bros.' Barry Meyer, Viacom's Philippe Dauman, NBC Universal's Jeffrey Zucker, Warner Music Group's Edgar Bronfman, Harper Collins CEO Brian Murray, Universal Music Group's Zachary Horowitz, the MPAA's Dan Glickman, the RIAA's Mitch Bainwol, IATSE's international president Matthew Leob, AFTRA'S Kim Roberts Hedgepeth, DGA president Taylor Hackford, DGA exec director Jay Roth and SAG's David White.
Notice that there aren't any consumer rights representatives. No one from technology companies. No one representing a viewpoint from outside of these industries of how they might be abusing claims of "piracy" to prop up obsolete business models. Instead, it's just the echo chamber.
See also Corporatist Pigs!
And here's how ridiculous "piracy" as become.
ASCAP Now Demanding License From Venues That Let People Play Guitar Hero
In the latest overreach, sent in by reader faceless, ASCAP is demanding a licensing fee from a venue that has the video game Guitar Hero for people to play. While the venue does sometimes have live musicians, it has purposely chosen to only allow original music (no covers) from artists and songwriters not covered by ASCAP, to avoid having to pay the fee. As the venue owner notes, it's ridiculous to think that the venue should have to pay for a license just to let people play Guitar Hero, saying, "patrons are paying for the entertainment of the game not for the listening value of the music." But, of course, that's not how ASCAP views any of these things, insisting that the value itself comes from the music, and thus the songwriters must absolutely be paid. Of course, this isn't the first time ASCAP has come down hard on music video games. Earlier this year, it insisted that the video game companies themselves should pay performance licensing fees as well -- so in this case it looks like they're trying to double or triple dip.
Of course, the most likely end result? The venue will drop the game, and fewer people will hear the music. This harms everyone -- the songwriters, the musicians, ASCAP and the venue.
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