“Money For Nothing” Censored In Canada ?!?
Don’t bother requesting the unabridged version of “Money For Nothing” in Canada, it has been censored.
That’s right, this Dire Straits classic has been banned from the airwaves in Canada because of a decision by the Canadian Broadcasting Standards Council that found that because the song included the lyric “faggot” that it violated their Code of Ethics and Equitable Portrayal Code.
Appearently a listener had complained after hearing the song on OZ FM, a station based in St. John’s, Newfoundland that broadcasts through-out Newfoundland and Labrador ; On February 1st, 2010.
I find it rather interesting that this chart topping, Grammy Award winning single had aired on radio since late 1985 without a complaint. It took nearly 25 years for someone to be so offended as to result in a complaint.
A music video featuring the unabridged version of this song also aired quite frequently on Much Music and Musique Plus in the 80’s and 90’s.
Also interesting is the fact that Elton John performed this song with Mark Knofler, Sting, Phil Collins and Howard Jones at The Prince’s Trust concert in 1986.
Canadian Labels Settle Lawsuit
Four of the major labels in Canada have settled a class action lawsuit against them for the unauthorized use and distribution of recordings, as well as unpaid mechanical and video royalties.
EMI Music Canada Inc., Sony Music Entertainment Canada Inc., Universal Music Canada Inc. and Warner Music Canada Co. have agreed to pay approximately $47.5 Million dollars to songwriters and music publishers that had not been compensated the use of their works in certain compilations and live recordings.
The class action lawsuit alledged that the labels had distributed over 300,000 works without authorization or compensation, fifty of which whose copyright is owned or partly owned by the estate of Chet Baker, the renown jazz trumpet player, arranger and composer.
According to January 10th, 2010 press release, the settlement will be distributed to the plaintiffs via the Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency (CMRRA), and Société du droit de reproduction des auteurs, compositeurs et éditeurs au Canada (SODRAC).
There is NO Official Limewire Replacement !
I just read a CAUCE notice that someone is claiming they are an “official” replacement for Limewire in unsolicited commercial emails.
Limewire has issued a statement warning their users that this spam is in no way associated to them, as they have been ordered to cease their operations in October 2010 :
“We have very recently become aware of unauthorized applications on the internet purporting to use the LimeWire name. We demand that all persons using the LimeWire software, name, or trademark in order to upload or download copyrighted works in any manner cease and desist from doing so.”
Song Previews & Royalties
SOCAN is again back in court, attempting to obtain royalties for those 30 second previews online retailers use on their sites.
Three years after the Copyright Board rulled that fair dealing applies because consumers use these previews as research, the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers have taken the case to Surpreme Court.
The Federal Court of Appeal has concured with the Copyright Board last May. But SOCAN insists that these previews be subjected to royalties because they would want the definition of the term research limited to format settings.
So SOCAN want online retailers to pay royalties so their customers have the priviledge to preview the music they’re selling, even when no actual sale occurs.
Where exactly does SOCAN think the funds would come from ?
The recording artists, composers, lyricists and music publishers they represent are already legally entitled to royalties from the sale of recordings, so the previews work in the favor. And online retailers are in no way obliged to offer previews, which results in expendatures for maintenance and bandwidth.
You would think SOCAN would appreciate the value of promotion but they seem to be quite insistant on this counterproductive, counterintuitive cash grab.
SOCAN obviously want to nickle and dime legal music download services, whose previews are used regularily by consumers. After all, the legal music download services can pass those extra expendatures on to their customers, right ?
But of course SOCAN would rather emphesize the benefits that would allegedly result from this scheme. You know, how artists and composers would get royalties when in reality the majority of funds would be forwarded to the music publishers they represent.
I Need That Record
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I just rented this documentary on Netflix and I thought i’d bump it on this blog.
Basically it’s about the rise and fall of record stores in the United States, which was unfortunately mirrored here in Canada. The record store is a rarity now outside of the major cities of Canada because of the conveniences of the internet but vinyl has retained a charm and sound that people still enjoy to this day. Additional information on this film can be found on the film’s official site. |
Limewire Plans Scrapped
Limewire is no more.
The company has confirmed that they will cease their operations on December 31st, scrapping their plans to offer legal music services.
Their agreements with several independent labels and distributors will be dissolved.