When I want to hear a particular rap song from 1992 on YouTube, the video service shows me this:
Yeah yeah, copyright or whatever, but what is the point? Who gains what exactly? By the way, if you can hear the song in the country you're in, then fuck you :-)
Who's involved, let's see. Me (the user/customer), Google (the owner of YouTube), the EU (makers of regional copyright laws), Sony (the copyright holder), and CMW (the artist).
Does Google the owner of YouTube win?
No. Google looses straight away, because I can hear the song on GrooveShark just fine (albeit without the video):
Does the EU win?
No. The EU might gain a little bit, because CMW is an american band, so chances are that I'll listen to a EU artist like Dizzie Rascal instead:
But that's not going to happen, because I wanted to listen to CMW, and I've already found the song on another service, GrooveShark.
Does Sony Music Entertainment win?
No. I already bought the song on iTunes a couple of days ago. If I hadn't bought it, I would have downloaded it with a torrent. The YouTube video being there or not, did not factor in to my decision to buy the song. I bought the song because it was insanely easy to do on my iPhone. Period. In fact, I might choose to not buy a song in the future if it's owned by SME.
Does the artist win?
Hardly, in fact they loose. I'm sure they appreciate that I bought the song, though I'm sure Sony Music Entertainment appreciates it a hell of a lot more if I know anything about royalty splits! And the song being blocked on YouTube did not make me buy the song, as I've already said. I was about to make CMW more famous, by linking their video on my blog, but couldn't. Sorry CMW.
Do concerned mothers win?
Does the fictional organization of "concerned mothers against gangster rap" gain anything by a blocked gangster rap tune on the internet? Sure, but that is mere coincidence, it could just as well have been a song about flowers or teddy bears or a praise for "concerned mothers against gangster rap".
By the way, you may check out the song CMW sampled on "N 2 Deep". It's by Lyn Collins, and features the distinct sound of the JB's. Apparently the copyright holder (Polydor) is not insane:
Related
I find that this blogpost and video on innovation from Edinburg by Ed Parsons is somehow related to this issue.
By the way Ed. If you watch the ping back. Sorry that I stole your look for WordPress. I kinda liked it, and I do listen to gangster rap occasionally so my morals are questionable.