Steal This Song
Gateway's revamped seminar tries to balance joy in music with copyright laws.Liane Gouthro Cassavoy, PCWorld.com
I used to love digital music. I loved everything about Napster--especially its access to thousands of downloadable songs. I loved it right up to the bitter end. And since then, I've been trying to find that balance between convenience and the law that lets me again take pleasure in digital music.
It's not just the fees--although life, liberty, and the pursuit of free MP3s is still my dream. I dislike the time it takes to fill out endless forms that sites force on me before I can download a single file. And I don't like searching and searching and still not finding that one song I've been looking for.
Basically, I'd given up. But I was intrigued by Gateway's new digital music seminars. The classes are free through August at Gateway stores around the country and purport to teach how to enjoy digital music legally. "Survive & Thrive," the curriculum is called, a title I hoped meant the course would bring joy back into the world of digital music.
Warning Signs
The class didn't start out on the most positive note. We were greeted with a warning that stated, in bold type: "It is a violation of the U.S. Copyright Act to make copies of music without the express written consent of the copyright holders. Copyright is a complex and rapidly evolving area of the law and you should contact a legal expert before making any unauthorized copies of music in any format. Opinions or comments expressed by the instructor should not be taken as legal advice."
Gateway drilled that message into us for the next three hours as part of its recently revised digital music curriculum.
While much of the course remains the same as past Gateway digital music classes, students now have new options to access the content, says Brad Williams, Gateway's director of communications. In the "Survive & Thrive" program, students can take instructor-led, online, or CD-ROM-based courses. Gateway continuously updates course content, as well as a resource list of sites that offer music legally, he says.
"It's obvious that digital music is a topic that's evolving all the time," Williams says, explaining why Gateway revamped its course. "We want to show people why there's so much excitement about digital music technology."
Copyright Concerns
Part of that excitement is, of course, generated by the ongoing debate over copyright law--in which Gateway is an active participant. Earlier this year, the company angered many in the recording industry with its television advertisement that featured Chief Executive Ted Waitt and Gateway's cow mascot singing a song offered free for download from Gateway's site. The ad's tagline was "Gateway supports your right to enjoy digital music legally."
Gateway seemed to be positioning itself as a champion of the consumer and a supporter of the right to free digital music. But, Williams stresses, the company does not support any illegal means of obtaining music.
"What we're against is treating consumers like criminals," Williams says. "Consumers want this technology. They want digital music. Let's find a way to make it work for everyone involved--for the consumers, for the record companies, and most of all, for the artists. The recording industry is looking at this like consumers are criminals and trying to find a way to bust them."
The music industry, led by the Recording Industry Association of America, is still suspicious of Gateway's motives and its digital music curriculum.
"Sounds cool, but I'd like to see the training guide. Call me cynical but optimistic," says Hilary Rosen, RIAA chair and chief executive officer.
Cynical but optimistic was exactly how I felt when I saw the oversized warning sign in the classroom. And after class I felt, well, mainly just confused.
Covering All the Bases
Gateway's course goes into the basics, including file formats; streaming versus downloaded media; Internet radio; and differences among the available digital music players, such as Liquid Player, RealOne Player, Windows Media Player, and MusicMatch Jukebox.
Everything was moving along smoothly until we started searching for free music. It took some time. We finally found a limited selection on some of the licensed sites.
How do you know if a site is licensed? You can either look for a license on the site or access the site through licensed software, such as MusicMatch Jukebox. Licensed software will bring you to licensed sites only, we were told. Use unlicensed software--like one of the many file-swapping tools--and you're probably accessing unlicensed music.
Free sites will offer fewer music files than paid services, we were told. As if we needed a reminder.
Getting Burned
After the search for free stuff, we turned to burning CDs--or at least the instructor did. His was the only PC in the classroom with a CD burner. The instructor, a friendly, knowledgeable Gateway employee, admitted he is no expert on copyright law, and said he didn't know if we weren't given CD burners to protect Gateway against possible copyright problems. Williams says this is not the case. Most Gateway classrooms have CD burners, and our location in a Boston suburb must use older machines, he says.
The instructor demonstrated how to create a compilation CD using several songs by Bernie and the Boomers that were available for download from Gateway's site. He laughed as he downloaded the tunes, admitting they were used as samples to avoid any copyright problems. And, I thought to myself, they're about the only songs you can find for free these days.
To make compilation CDs with songs we might actually want to hear again, we needed to know the legal ramifications, he said. To the best of his knowledge, it is perfectly legal to take a CD you own, copy the tracks onto your PC at home, and create a compilation CD. The problem, he said, arises when you listen to that CD. Technically, it's for your ears only and can't be distributed to others. You can listen to it at home, in your car, or on your boom box.
What if someone else is around? Well, that's probably against the law since you were the only one who purchased the copyright to the songs, he said.
What if you carpool and someone is in your car when the CD is playing? Well, that's probably against the law, too. But again, he's not a copyright expert. He urged us to consult a lawyer if we have questions. It's such a gray area, he added; it's hard to determine exactly what's legal and what's not.
Lawyer Tunes
You're probably okay if someone happens to hear the CD you compile. You shouldn't mass produce and sell them, but if you're stopped at a traffic light and the passenger in the next car happens to hear part of the song, well, that's likely not a problem.
It really comes down to fair use, say both Gateway's Williams and Jennifer Granick, litigation director at the Center for Internet and Society at Stanford Law School.
"The Audio Home Recording Act says you can't sue home users for noncommercial copying of CDs they already own," Granick says. "The [law] allows you to make a backup copy of CDs you own, as long as the copies are for your personal use," she adds. "If someone else is the copyright holder, you can't publicly perform the work. But playing a song in your car is not a public performance; that's really home use. And if people incidentally hear it, well, no one will sue you for it."
However, the RIAA has argued against allowing users to make copies in any format. "If the music industry had their way, maybe that would be against the law," Granick says.
"I don't think it's debatable," Granick adds. "A copy that you make for yourself is a fair use copy. That's just an argument that the recording industry puts out there to explain why they should be able to sell three copies of the same CD to one person." The copyright-concerned can get more details about the law from the Home Recording Rights Coalition.
Gateway's Just Trying to Help
Gateway admits the laws are confusing and often unclear.
"We're a technology company; we're not trying to give legal advice. We have a role in helping you understand what's legal and what's not. What it really comes down to is fair use. We are helping you enjoy music for your personal, noncommercial use," Williams says.
"You may not walk out of the class with a complete picture of what's legal and what's not," he says. "We're trying to help consumers get a better understanding, if not a complete understanding, of copyright laws."
In addition to gaining a newfound appreciation of Bernie and the Boomers, I learned a few useful skills. I recommend the seminar to beginners looking for guidance. The instructor made no high-pressure sales pitches--he admitted he doesn't even have a Gateway PC at home--and was very forthcoming about noting when a free application would work fine in place of a pricey version.
But if you're looking for lots of free music, this class isn't the place to go. Hilary Rosen just might be impressed.