Andre Yoskowitz
13 Mar 2009 3:44
The Featured Artists Coalition, a group of 140 popular UK musicians, have said that they believe the public should not be prosecuted for downloading unauthorized music from file sharing services but did say they believe "companies such as MySpace and YouTube should be required to remunerate the artists when they use their music for advertising."
The musicians will take their concerns to Lord Carter, who has been a strong supporter of prosecuting pirates.
A few of the artists who showed up for the group's inaugural meeting were Robbie Williams, Annie Lennox, Billy Bragg, Blur's David Rowntree, Radiohead's Ed O'Brien, Pink Floyd's Nick Mason and Mick Jones from The Clash.
Bragg added: "What I said at the meeting was that the record industry in Britain is still going down the road of criminalising our audience for downloading illegal MP3s."
"If we follow the music industry down that road, we will be doing nothing more than being part of a protectionist effort. It's like trying to put toothpaste back in the tube.
"Artists should own their own rights and they should decide when their music should be used for free, or when they should have payment."