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Talking About a Revolution
Moving beyond the Napster squabble at Berklee's Career Expo 2001.
By Rob Hochschild
(March 16, 2001)
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Lawyer Donald Passman compared the Napster controversy to the French Revolution. |
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Photo by Bob Kramer |
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When it comes to the controversy over music on the Internet, it's remarkable what a difference a year makes. At Berklee's Music Career Expo and Job Fair 2000, Recording Industry Association of America President and CEO Hilary Rosen gave an emotional keynote address at a time when carping and confusion seemed to predominate. At this year's expo a few weeks ago, the strident tone was replaced by a sense of calm and a collective acceptance that, like it or not, things are changing, and it's time to move on.
Author and music attorney Donald Passman gave a tutorial on copyright in his keynote address while touching on several historically related disputes and possible scenarios for the future of selling music. Boasting a client list that includes R.E.M., Janet Jackson, Quincy Jones, Lauryn Hill, and Randy Newman, Passman has earned the right to take his shots at the two multibillion dollar industries that are locked in battle over music commerce.
"[The music and computer industries] are each more arrogant than the other, knowing how the world should be run, and not wanting to admit they're wrong," Passman said.
Passman's comments came about a week before a San Francisco district court judge handed down an injunction forcing the file-swapping company Napster to block users from trading copyrighted music. The legal outcome was one of a series of steps that will unfold in coming months and years as lawyers representing the two industries come together on ways to market music online.
"I don't think this is going to happen as fast as people think it will," Passman said. "We're going to have a paradigm shift of some kind."
One thing that won't happen, Passman said, is a dissolution of copyright law. When artistic creations are given away and copied for free, as they were in the aftermath of the French Revolution of 1789, there's no incentive to go into the arts, Passman said. Revolutionaries eventually realized their mistake and reinstated the copyright law. The same would be true, he said, if it were legal to copy music for free as it was on Napster.
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Berklee alumnus and Sonicbids CEO Panos Panay gave a workshop on touring. |
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Photo by Bob Kramer |
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"If people are offered a reasonably priced alternative, they'll use it and not pirate," Passman said. "Maybe I'm naive, but I believe it."
While Passman argued for the importance of upholding copyright law, he also made a case for the record industry to take a more forward-looking approach. "Who knows how this will go?" Passman said. "Seinfeld was the most successful show ever, but no one paid a penny to watch it."
Passman reminded the audience that the music industry once fought against the spread of radio for fear of losing money but found that radio eventually became a great source of revenue and promotion for music sales. A heated debate in the movie industry over the use of videocassette tapes dissipated for the same reason, Passman said.
More than 1,100 expo attendees crowded into a room in the Hynes Convention Center in Boston to hear Passman's speech. Attracting local musicians, students, faculty, and industry professionals, the expo also offered a series of panel discussions, workshop sessions, and an exhibition hall for companies including the Avedis Zildjian Company and Mark of the Unicorn. Session titles included "Survivor: If You Have to Go It Alone," featuring Newbury Comics founder and Berklee trustee Mike Dreese and singer/songwriter Ellis Paul; "Napster: Good or Evil?" featuring Rykodisc founder and Berklee trustee Don Rose and producer Paul Kolderie (Radiohead, Hole); and "Live Touring: Past, Present, and Future," led by alumnus and Sonicbids CEO Panos Panay.
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