MESSAGE
| DATE | 2002-10-24 |
| FROM | Ruben I Safir
|
| SUBJECT | Re: [hangout] Band Can't Sell Own Music on EBay
|
On 2002.10.24 12:09 Vin wrote:
>
>
> http://www.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,55926,00.html
>
> Band Can't Sell Own Music on EBay By Brad King
>
> 02:00 AM Oct. 24, 2002 PDT
>
> George Ziemann didn't have delusions of grandeur when it came to selling his
> band's CD.
>
> He just wanted to promote the album -- and hopefully sell a few copies -- on
> a higher-traffic site than his own. So he turned to eBay, the Net's largest
> marketplace.
>
> But the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), a law meant to limit people
> from distributing content illegally over the Internet, foiled him.
>
> The reason? He used recordable CDs (CD-Rs) to distribute his albums.
>
> The discs allow people to record data files -- music and movies for instance
> -- and they are often used to record and sell pirated wares.
>
> As a precaution against enabling thieves to sell stolen merchandise on the
> site, eBay launched its Verified Rights Owner program, which allows copyright
> holders to send eBay take-down notices for auctions that violate copyright
> laws.
>
> The problem in Ziemann's case, he said, is that he's selling his own music.
>
> The mistake occurred when eBay employees swept the site for illegally posted
> materials. On two occasions, the company mistakenly identified Ziemann's
> album -- which was advertised as a CD-R -- as infringing on somebody's
> copyright, said eBay spokesman Kevin Pursglove
>
> David Steiner, president of AuctionBytes.com, an online auction news
> service, said this type of thing often happens to smaller auctions, despite
> the fact that Ziemann appeared to own the music he was selling.
>
> "There is a lack of communication at eBay," Steiner said. "If one person
> received an e-mail, they might deal with the problem. The problem is, it
> doesn't get logged, and if another e-mail shows up, another customer service
> representative starts the whole process all over again."
>
> Less than three weeks after he started his first auction, Ziemann received
> the first of what would become an endless string of notes -- sometimes from
> actual staff members, but more often in the form of auto-response e-mails --
> telling him his auction had been shuttered because somebody had fingered him
> as a thief.
>
> Over the next month, he tried to find out who had fingered him and what he
> could do to get his auction back up. The constant back and forth eventually
> soured Ziemann -- who runs a website and retail service from his home -- on
> eBay altogether.
>
> "We no longer have any interest in selling our product there. Ever," Ziemann
> wrote in an e-mail.
>
> With media companies upping their online enforcement of copyright law, cases
> of mistaken identity like Ziemann's could be on the rise. Again, eBay would
> not comment on its policing policy, but several companies scour the Internet
> looking for copyrighted materials. The movie industry uses Ranger Online,
> said Steiner.
>
> The recording industry has employed several search companies, including
> Media Enforcer and BayTSP.
>
> Ziemann never anticipated selling more than 20 or so albums, but for other
> independent musicians or small record labels, the online auction site is one
> of the few large storehouses where they can sell their CDs. Small groups can
> try to sell their music in other places -- MP3.com, for example -- but the
> larger outlets like Tower Records and Musicland don't offer musicians and
> labels much control.
>
> Unless musicians want to sell their music straight off their own websites --
> which likely limits their exposure, depending on their existing fan base --
> there aren't many places to go.
>
> CD Baby out of Portland, Oregon, offers one of the few attractive options.
>
> Started by Derek Sivers in 1998, the company has paid out over $2 million to
> 25,000 musicians who sell their merchandise online. With little overhead and
> a small staff, the group handles about 600 sales a day. Those shipments are
> tracked, and every Monday Sivers sends out about $40,000 in checks.
>
> That may not be enough to entice eBay or Tower Records to change the way
> they operate, but as record sales continue to plummet worldwide, Sivers has
> found a way to build a solid -- and independent -- music retail store for
> musicians like Ziemann.
>
> "There is no one independent musician considered to be a big enough deal for
> other companies," Sivers said, "but by treating the little people like they
> aren't important enough, these companies are missing out on the 25,000
> musicians who still need a place to be."
>
> ____________________________
> New Yorker Free Software Users Scene
> Fair Use -
> because it's either fair use or useless....
>
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