Copyright history. Part 6: Raider seizure of record companies
Continued.
The first part is the Black Death .
The second part is Bloody Mary .
The third part - Monopoly dies ... and is reborn .
The fourth part - the United States and the library .
The fifth part - Non - property rights .
For most of the 20th century, there was a war of influence between musicians and record companies. For most of the century, it was the musicians who played the leading role both in the texts of laws and in public opinion. And labels wanted to make music just an appendage of their business. The active intervention of the fascist regime in Italy tipped the scales in their favor.
In the 20th century, music, not books, became the face of copyright. In the 1930s, two events occurred that greatly influenced the lives of musicians: the Great Depression, due to which many musicians lost their jobs, and the emergence of sound films, due to which most of those who were spared by depression lost their jobs.
Under these conditions, two opposite initiatives emerged. One came from the associations of musicians who sought to ensure the survival and earnings of people left without work (“redundant personnel”, as is now accepted to express themselves in the corporate jargon). The musicians were concerned about the spread of "mechanized music", which did not require the presence of live performers. They wanted to have an impact on sound recording, and this issue was raised at the International Labor Organization.
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At the same time, record companies also wanted to fill in everything that related to the reproduction and transmission of music, and even by the musicians themselves. Nevertheless, in those days, political and business circles looked at them as supporting service providers for musicians. They were forced or to put up with this role, even if it led to their ruin. And no one would give for their suffering and a broken penny.
No one except fascist Italy.
(Today, the word “fascist” is overloaded with emotional meaning. At that time, the Italian regime called itself fascist. I use this word, as the Italians themselves used it in the same way.)
In 1933, representatives of phonographic companies gathered in Rome at the invitation of Confederazione Generale Fascista dell'Industria Italiana - the Italian industrial association. At this conference, held from 10 to 14 November, the International Phonogram Federation ( IFPI ) was formed. It was decided that IFPI would try to refine the Bern Convention to give recording companies rights similar to those of artists, writers and musicians.
IFPI continued to gather in countries that welcomed her position on music. Conferences were held in Italy in 1934 and 37, and after the war, in 1950 - in Portugal, where at that time there was an authoritarian dictatorial regime , in many respects similar to the fascist regime , which lasted until 1974. IFPI developed the concept of so-called “related rights”, which gave producers of specific phonograms and broadcasts a monopoly, similar to the one that gives copyright.
The World Intellectual Property Organization adopted in 1961 the Rome Convention , which enshrines the notion of related rights and gives recording companies practically the same rights as authors. At the same time, the initiative of the International Labor Organization to protect the rights of musicians failed and was forgotten.
Since 1961, the recording industry has fiercely defended copyright, despite the fact that the copyright monopoly has only a distant relation to them, much less than the monopoly on “related rights”.
Two important points to note:
First, record companies intentionally mix these two types of monopoly rights. They defend their “copyright”, which they do not really have, and say with nostalgic trepidation that the copyright was invented by the wise minds of the Enlightenment era, referring to the Queen Anne Statute of 1709, which, by the way, was not the first copyright In fact, a monopoly on related rights was invented in the fascist countries and consolidated only in 1961 in post-war Europe. From the very first days of its existence, this monopoly was controversial and raised many questions, and certainly had nothing to do with the wise Age of Enlightenment.
Secondly, if the point of view of the International Labor Organization had won, record companies would now be in the subordinate position of the musicians, and would not hold them by the throat with a deadly grip, as has been the case for the past several decades. It could have been this way if it had not been for the support of the fascist authoritarian regimes, which were on the side of corporations, and not musicians and listeners, and allowed the record companies to join the copyright industry.
Next part: Raider capture by Pfizer .
The first part is the Black Death .
The second part is Bloody Mary .
The third part - Monopoly dies ... and is reborn .
The fourth part - the United States and the library .
The fifth part - Non - property rights .
For most of the 20th century, there was a war of influence between musicians and record companies. For most of the century, it was the musicians who played the leading role both in the texts of laws and in public opinion. And labels wanted to make music just an appendage of their business. The active intervention of the fascist regime in Italy tipped the scales in their favor.In the 20th century, music, not books, became the face of copyright. In the 1930s, two events occurred that greatly influenced the lives of musicians: the Great Depression, due to which many musicians lost their jobs, and the emergence of sound films, due to which most of those who were spared by depression lost their jobs.
Under these conditions, two opposite initiatives emerged. One came from the associations of musicians who sought to ensure the survival and earnings of people left without work (“redundant personnel”, as is now accepted to express themselves in the corporate jargon). The musicians were concerned about the spread of "mechanized music", which did not require the presence of live performers. They wanted to have an impact on sound recording, and this issue was raised at the International Labor Organization.
')
At the same time, record companies also wanted to fill in everything that related to the reproduction and transmission of music, and even by the musicians themselves. Nevertheless, in those days, political and business circles looked at them as supporting service providers for musicians. They were forced or to put up with this role, even if it led to their ruin. And no one would give for their suffering and a broken penny.
No one except fascist Italy.
(Today, the word “fascist” is overloaded with emotional meaning. At that time, the Italian regime called itself fascist. I use this word, as the Italians themselves used it in the same way.)
In 1933, representatives of phonographic companies gathered in Rome at the invitation of Confederazione Generale Fascista dell'Industria Italiana - the Italian industrial association. At this conference, held from 10 to 14 November, the International Phonogram Federation ( IFPI ) was formed. It was decided that IFPI would try to refine the Bern Convention to give recording companies rights similar to those of artists, writers and musicians.
IFPI continued to gather in countries that welcomed her position on music. Conferences were held in Italy in 1934 and 37, and after the war, in 1950 - in Portugal, where at that time there was an authoritarian dictatorial regime , in many respects similar to the fascist regime , which lasted until 1974. IFPI developed the concept of so-called “related rights”, which gave producers of specific phonograms and broadcasts a monopoly, similar to the one that gives copyright.
The World Intellectual Property Organization adopted in 1961 the Rome Convention , which enshrines the notion of related rights and gives recording companies practically the same rights as authors. At the same time, the initiative of the International Labor Organization to protect the rights of musicians failed and was forgotten.
Since 1961, the recording industry has fiercely defended copyright, despite the fact that the copyright monopoly has only a distant relation to them, much less than the monopoly on “related rights”.
Two important points to note:
First, record companies intentionally mix these two types of monopoly rights. They defend their “copyright”, which they do not really have, and say with nostalgic trepidation that the copyright was invented by the wise minds of the Enlightenment era, referring to the Queen Anne Statute of 1709, which, by the way, was not the first copyright In fact, a monopoly on related rights was invented in the fascist countries and consolidated only in 1961 in post-war Europe. From the very first days of its existence, this monopoly was controversial and raised many questions, and certainly had nothing to do with the wise Age of Enlightenment.
Secondly, if the point of view of the International Labor Organization had won, record companies would now be in the subordinate position of the musicians, and would not hold them by the throat with a deadly grip, as has been the case for the past several decades. It could have been this way if it had not been for the support of the fascist authoritarian regimes, which were on the side of corporations, and not musicians and listeners, and allowed the record companies to join the copyright industry.
Next part: Raider capture by Pfizer .
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/162249/
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