

The Digital Music Industry Is Inept (2012) - Audiophilip
http://www.bennjordan.com/blog/?p=499

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NovaS1X
Not surprising. The entire legal framework around music is a disaster and
harmful to both listeners and artists. The only people who win are lawyers and
large corporations. The DMCA and its supporting system are a toxic waste of
the industry.

That being said, I'm happy to see and article from Benn on HN. I'm a huge fan
and his work as The Flashbulb as put out some of my favorite albums, with The
Opus at the End of Everything being my all time favorite album from any genre
or artist.

I hope that he sees resolution but I hold out little hope.

------
domador
I had always wondered how iTunes and other digital music services go about
verifying a musician's ownership of his or her songs when they're initially
uploaded. If this article represents a pattern, the answer would be "blind
trust" and zero due diligence.

~~~
TylerE
The due diligence is when you sign the agreement that says you own what you
upload. Thus if they get sued later they just refer to the uploader.

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JumpCrisscross
> _So since the guy who runs “Foul Play” apparently printed out my cease and
> desist notice, rolled it into a tube, and smoked crack out of it, I’m going
> to assume that he won’t show up to court either_

So the author saved himself the effort of filing a lawsuit? Part of me is
annoyed at the retailers' indifference. But a greater part is glad that
adjudication is left to our courts.

------
1337biz
I have some issues with he pre-emptive enforcement that guy expects from all
these different platforms. Just going around saying some other guy "put some
bird sounds" over his song seems a very subjective judgment. Sure, in his case
that might be the truth, but who is going to be the judge what is an original
work and what not.

If the other guy really put just some bird sounds over his track and is now so
massively successful - either the bird sounds were missing from making a so-so
track into a successful song - or he should seriously review what is wrong
with his way of promoting his music.

------
naringas
sounds a bit like some form of identity theft.

in any case, shouldn't he be suing the label selling his music? instead of all
the stores they're selling it on?

~~~
ismyrnow
Sounds like he wants to avoid paying a lawyer to do something that the big
record labels can do with a click, that is, get a network to honor a DMCA
takedown request. It shouldn't be so difficult for an individual to prevent
someone else from profiting from their work.

It sounds like yet another case where legislation favors the megacorps that
put those laws there, claiming they were only for the good of the artists.

~~~
Veratyr
DMCA legally has to be honored regardless of the source, as long as the notice
is complete. There's no "megacorp" favoring going on here.

I'm sure if he actually issued DMCA takedown notices these listings would be
gone within a day but since searching the post for DMCA shows zero results, it
sounds like he hasn't done this.

EDIT: And to be clear, you don't need an expensive lawyer to file a DMCA
notice. There are plenty of free templates all over the internet you can print
and mail.

~~~
rpenm
He mentions sending "cease and desist" letters - unclear if that means DMCA
notices.

He actually mentions receiving a DMCA notice for his own work despite
providing proof of ownership to Youtube (but misspells DMCA, thus evading your
search).

------
bravura
This story appears to date from 2012:

[http://www.aux.tv/2012/10/electronic-artist-the-flashbulb-
is...](http://www.aux.tv/2012/10/electronic-artist-the-flashbulb-is-the-
entire-music-industry/)

~~~
__david__
Interesting. I did a tiny bit of digging to see where things stand today. When
I search for "Undiscovered Colors" in iTunes, his recording (The Flashbulb)
shows up first in the list. "The Inventor" doesn't show up at all.

When I play the song preview and use Shazam, Shazam tells me it's
"Undiscovered Colors" by "Flash Bulb & Inventor". There is no link to
Inventor's version, presumably because it is no longer on iTunes. There's a
link to a video in Shazam and that takes me to The Flashbulb's official
Undiscovered Colors video on YouTube[1].

On YouTube I found what I think is Inventor's version, though it's called "The
Flashbulb - Undiscovered Colors (Inventor Dubstep Remix)"[2]. Calling it a
remix at least seems closer to the truth.

[1]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgoAgYR4584](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgoAgYR4584)

[2]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVHobhMHrQ0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVHobhMHrQ0)

