Several artists have told the United States Supreme Court that they believe P2P file-sharing networks should not be blamed for illegal file sharing. They want P2P networks to be kept alive to ensure that artists have an outlet separate from major record labels to distribute their music. The group has said that not all artists believe file-sharing is bad. "To the contrary, many musicians find peer-to-peer technology...allows them easily to reach a worldwide online audience. And to many musicians, the benefits of this..strongly outweigh the risks of copyright infringement," they wrote.
The group includes contemporary artists like Jason Mraz, as well several popular artists from years past such as Steve Winwood and Heart. Mraz claims that the "illegal filesharing" has given him more exposure. Apparently half of his concertgoers have found him through P2P networks. The group claims that closure of P2P would rob artists of a technology that can potentially increase exposure and income.
"Distribution of recordings to retailers was controlled largely by a few large national record companies and by several 'independent' labels before P2P", the group argued. They say that while they think copyright infringement is wrong, artists who may no longer be commercially viable still have a way to keep their music out in the open. This comes days before the Supreme Court is to hear arguments between MGM and Grokster.
Source:
BetaNews
"Distribution of recordings to retailers was controlled largely by a few large national record companies and by several 'independent' labels before P2P", the group argued. They say that while they think copyright infringement is wrong, artists who may no longer be commercially viable still have a way to keep their music out in the open. This comes days before the Supreme Court is to hear arguments between MGM and Grokster.
Source:
BetaNews
