RIP Audio Galaxy

Pitiless Wanderer

Active Member
Jun 14, 2002
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Salt Lake City, UT
this really, really fucking sucks.



RIAA, NMPA Reach Settlement With Audiogalaxy.com

Recording Industry Association of America, National Music Publishers’ Association Reach Settlement with Audiogalaxy.com

New York, NY, June 17, 2002 – The recording industry, music publishers and songwriters announced today that they have reached an out-of-court settlement with Audiogalaxy.com, the Napster-like clone, which requires Audiogalaxy to stop the infringement of copyrighted works on their peer-to-peer network.

The agreement follows a lawsuit filed in late May accusing Audiogalaxy of facilitating and encouraging widespread copyright infringement – a last resort step after repeated efforts to warn the firm of their liability were ignored or resulted in ineffective attempts to fix the problem. The suit was brought by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), on behalf of its member labels, and the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA), on behalf of the music publisher principals of its licensing affiliate, The Harry Fox Agency, Inc.

The settlement reached would allow Audiogalaxy to operate a "filter-in" system, which requires that for any music available, the songwriter, music publisher, and/or recording company must first consent to the use and sharing of the work. The other key provision of the agreement is for Audiogalaxy to pay the music publishers and recording industry a substantial sum based on Audiogalaxy's assets and interest in resolving this case quickly.

"We are pleased to settle this case quickly. This is a victory for everyone who cares about protecting the value of music," said Hilary Rosen, Chairman and CEO of the RIAA. "This should serve as a wake-up call to the other networks that facilitate unauthorized copying. The responsibility for implementing systems that allow for the authorized use of copyrighted works rests squarely on the shoulders of the peer-to-peer network."

"The message is clear – there is no place on the Internet for services that exploit creators' work without fair compensation," added Edward P. Murphy, President and CEO, NMPA. "Such services hurt creators and hurt the legitimate Internet businesses that wish to comply with the law and compensate the creators. The swift resolution of this matter is thus a double victory that creators and legitimate Internet businesses should join in hailing." (more)

Audiogalaxy.com, based in Austin, Texas, was one of the more heavily trafficked file-sharing websites.

The Recording Industry Association of America is the trade group that represents the U.S. recording industry. Its mission is to foster a business and legal climate that supports and promotes our members' creative and financial vitality. Its members are the record companies that comprise the most vibrant national music industry in the world. RIAA® members create, manufacture and/or distribute approximately 90% of all legitimate sound recordings produced and sold in the United States.

In support of this mission, the RIAA works to protect intellectual property rights worldwide and the First Amendment rights of artists; conduct consumer industry and technical research; and monitor and review - - state and federal laws, regulations and policies. The RIAA® also certifies Gold®, Platinum®, Multi-Platinum™, and Diamond sales awards, Los Premios De Oro y Platino™, an award celebrating Latin music sales.

The National Music Publishers’ Association, Inc., founded in 1917, works to protect and advance the interests of the music publishing industry. With over 900 members, the NMPA represents the most important and influential music publishing firms throughout the United States.

The Harry Fox Agency, Inc. provides an information source, clearing house and monitoring service for licensing musical copyrights, and acts as licensing agent for more than 27,000 music publisher principals, who in turn represent the interests of more than 160,000 songwriters. Besides the core business functions of licensing, collections and distribution of royalties, HFA conducts periodic record company and other user audits on behalf of its principals. HFA is the licensing affiliate of the National Music Publishers’ Association.
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that is so fucking stupid. i guarantee the majority of people who download songs end up buying albums for the ones they like anyways. we are the ones who make the goddamn industry what it is. if we didnt buy the records they wouldnt be rich and famous...they fucking owe us. we have the right to try before we buy in my opinion. AG was the best song sharing program out there too. god damn!
 
i guarantee the majority of people who download songs end up buying albums for the ones they like anyways.
Do you have statistical evidence of that? If you believe that, you are far more trusting of humanity than I am....
if we didnt buy the records they wouldnt be rich and famous...they fucking owe us. we have the right to try before we buy in my opinion
Nobody owes you anything, and who exactly is rich and famous? The ones that are rich were rich long before AG. Very few in the metal world get to make even a semi-decent living off of music. Most bands have samples on their websites, if you need samples.
 
Hmm.... whether downloading is right or not, there is one thing for sure. There will be another system. Damn, world is full of filesharing programs, those AG users must go somewhere... Anybody know anyone using Napster nowadays?

Does this "settlement" mean that record companies gave AG a load of money to quit (ehmm.. I mean "operate a filter-in system") or does it mean that they just were threatening enough so that AG admitted their superiority? If it's the first case, damn I'll code a file sharing program, I might get rich. :p
 
Fucking shit!

For the record: last time I was sick and forced to stay at home I downloaded about 10 hours of music from Audiogalaxy to kill the time. That way, I have discovered tons of interesting non-mainstream bands and artists whose albums I am now buying.
 
Ah well, time to move onto the next one...

It doesn't make sense, as there will always be another one... Those who want a cd without paying will just get someone to make them a copy, those who want to listen to music, get bonus versions and life songs get shafted...
 
Originally posted by yourdeadgroom

Do you have statistical evidence of that? If you believe that, you are far more trusting of humanity than I am....


No, I dont have stats to prove that, but from all of the people i know who used ag and other p2p file sharing programs they either A: ended up buying the album, or B: only downloaded a song or two they liked, not an entire album, althought there were/are exceptions obviously.



Nobody owes you anything, and who exactly is rich and famous? The ones that are rich were rich long before AG. Very few in the metal world get to make even a semi-decent living off of music. Most bands have samples on their websites, if you need samples.

Clearly AG didnt "make the rich," that's absurd. I was saying we made them rich and famous by buying their albums in the first place. Bands make much more money off album sales than off touring. AG is a relatively new program, such like napster was. So, a band that has been supported by legions of fans over many decades shouldnt really care if people want to download a song or two.

As far as strictly underground metal bands....name me three underground metal bands that are semi seccussful with a cult following that wouldnt want mp3 sharing going on. I bet you cant. Almost every interview I have read with bands, when asked about their thoughts on mp3 sharing have said they not only agree with it...they encourage it! They want people to hear their music, because then they'll buy the record. Whether they actually buy the record or not....well....
 
http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2002/06/13/liebowitz/


This is for those who want stats. For those who don't know, the Cato institute is pretty pro-business, and are basically funded by corporations, although they have a strong libertarian tendncy. But even this guy, an economist, seems to lean toward the view that fle sharing isn't so bad. It empirically hasn't hurt album sales significantly, if at all.

Somone mentioned that the bands and what not don't owe the fans anything. I agree. However, the argument against file sharing seems to be that the world owes people in the recording industry (especially major labels) a living. It's moot, since sharing doesn't hurt tem anyway, but infuriating nonetheless because the result is that it's harder to check out new music.