BBC In Trouble Over Free Music

Take a Byte Out of Crime writes "According to this article, British classical labels are claiming that the BBC giving away the these symphonies, which were performed by the BBC Orchestra for free, constitutes unfair government competition. Apparently all free music really is illegal these days, or soon will be, public domain be damned."

Lets ask Beethoven

[Anonymous Coward]

Time to get the Ouija board out and see what Beethoven has to say about all of this. He says...

"First post!"

Hmmmm...

Please Sue!

[elronxenu]

... Then I can submit this to Groklaw in response to PJ's challenge to find the most stupid lawsuit ever.

Whiners

[dtfinch]

If you not good enough to compete with the public domain, then it's time to rethink your career.

Re:Solutions.

[hobotron]

British Classical music IS parody

*ducks*

Groklaw called it

[einhverfr]

"The Stupidest Lawsuit since the World Began"

Re:Lets ask Beethoven

[Anonymous Coward]

People with a sense of humor?

What's next - prostitutes suing

[Chrisq]

.. wives and girlfriends for unfair competition

Re:Um...

[Anonymous Coward]

Mod Parent Down Illegal Website

Re:Did they listen to the files?

[ballpoint]

Crossfading classical music ?

I never tried that. I'm not sure that's going to work out all right.

Let's see: the grandiose and triumphant C major POM POM POM pom-pom-pom POM POOOOM ending of the 5th crossfading into the delicate F major string intro of the 6th... but then, why not ? Anything goes !

Re:No

[space_dude_27]

Well there's the problem: these works are in the public domain and copyright law needs to be fixed. Let's extend the period that works stay under copyright to, say, 300 years, thus increasing the incentive for classical composers to write more ace symphonies and ensuring that the record labels get the megabucks they deserve.

Re:No

[justzisguy]

I realize the sarcasm, but pipe down. You don't want any legislatures to have that idea in the back of their heads. Scary...

The Stupidest Lawsuit since the World Began

[MillionthMonkey]

You may be thinking of the case of Baker vs. Sanji [amazon.com] which was decided in a venue somewhere in the Middle East of centuries past. In that particular case a poor defendant (Sanji) living in an apartment above a bakery was enjoined in a civil suit by the Baker, who sought damages arising from the defendant's habit of opening his apartment window every morning and taking in the aromas of the dark crusty bread, warm sweet rolls, and crunchy biscuits that wafted up from the bakery- without benefit or recompense to the plaintiff who toiled over the hot ovens to produce the smells. In his complaint the plaintiff argued in court that the defendant had been "stealing" the smells, and sought damages for the "whiffing and sniffing".

The court ruled in favor of the plaintiff, but in the remedy phase of the trial issued a symbolic judgment where it was arranged that the plaintiff would hear the "clink clink" sound of the defendant's money as it dropped into a bowl, in lieu of an actual settlement.

Re:No

[Alsee]

You're nothing but a theif who wants to be able to steal the property of people who died more than 300 years ago. Property is property, and property rights do not expire.

I am a decendant of Ug, inventor of fire. Every time you light a cigarette you owe me a license fee for using my Intellectual Property. Pay me biatch. :)

-

Unfair competition

[CaptainFork]

The commercial distributors have a point.

- Consumers are being forced to pay for the BBC to produce those recordings via the BBC's license fee, which is a compulsory tax for those with a TV set. This means that to buy the commercial version you must pay for both: hardly fair competition.

- Due to the huge size of the BBC it can empoloy monopolistic tactics such as using a loss leader to kill off competition. It can also afford to buy any technology it needs even if that technology was developed at risk by smaller commercial organisations.

- In the absence of commecial competition, how likely is the BBC to continue providing this content at the same quality and price. The BBC is mandated to provide free TV, radio and website, but all other aspects of the business are revinue-generating.

Basically, the BBC should avoid doing what can be adequately be provided by the commercial sector. Thing like classical recordings made by the BBC are not free; they will be paid for by us one way or another.

Re:The Stupidest Lawsuit since the World Began

[Anonymous Brave Guy]

Heh. My driving instructor's husband was a traffic cop, with a few stories to tell. One time, the enforcement guys he worked with sent the usual speed camera photo to someone who'd gotten himself caught well over the limit, with the usual official notice telling him he had to pay a fine.

Being a bit of a practical joker, the speeder sent them back a photo of three ten pound notes (the fine in question).

Being up for a joke themselves, the enforcement guys sent him back a photo of a pair of handcuffs.

I'm reliably informed that the fine arrived, in cash, the following day.