A2IM: American Association of Independent Music

Posted in News by A2IM

Today a number of websites are shutting down in protest of proposed anti-piracy legislation.  They are taking a unilateral action to make their content unavailable. However, under current law, A2IM members whose copyrights are infringed upon cannot take similar action. Our independent labels and their artists have no practical way of taking down illegal links to their music from rogue foreign websites accessed via U.S. search engines.

We urge these search engines to support U.S. content creators by working toward anti-piracy legislation acceptable to all. Let’s have a debate that genuinely acknowledges that the voices within our joint communities are deep, broad and diverse and let’s all agree that doing nothing is not an option.

The media has portrayed the issue as that of two giant industries (movies/music and technology) in conflict, as though this was a battle solely between very rich businesses. In fact, our members are small and medium sized independent businesses that invest in the creation of music and whose very existence is being threatened by the availability of illegal content on line. We look forward to solution oriented discussions among all parties. Learn more

Posted in News by A2IM

There was an unfortunate turn of events for American independent labels and artists this past weekend when the Obama Administration announced they will not support the proposed PROTECT IP (Senate) and SOPA (House of Representatives) bills to reduce piracy related to overseas websites “dedicated to infringing on copyrighted material”.  While this is a setback for those of us who know that mass distribution of unlicensed music is crushing our ability to make a fair living from our investment in the creation of great music, A2IM does take some optimism from the fact that the White House statement said “Let us be clear online piracy is a real problem that harms the American economy, threatens jobs for significant numbers of middle class workers and hurts some of our nation’s most creative and innovative companies and entrepreneurs.” The Obama administration still called for legislation this year that would give prosecutors and owners of intellectual property new abilities to deter overseas piracy.

Our view is we need help to reduce unlicensed music copyright access, especially that which occurs from overseas sources where we cannot get voluntary measures and best practices enacted like the “Copyright Alerts” program which the major ISP’s have embraced here in the U.S. or finger-printing and content ID blocking measures that good digital partners are starting to include as standard for their platforms.  As our A2IM Billboard Op-ed had noted:

“If there are ways to strengthen these bills and ensure they are narrowly focused to target rogue sites, we are for that.  No legislation is perfect, and improvements should be made where appropriate.  But let’s have a debate that genuinely acknowledges that the voices within our entertainment family are deep, broad and diverse.  And let’s all agree that doing nothing is not an option any Intellectual Property creators can live with.”

Our comments all along have been in support of the proposed legislation highlighting our unique community, separate from that of the mainstream music industry, tailored toward our community’s needs as small and medium sized independent businesses that invest in the creation of music.  OUR KEY TALKING POINTS:

* The independent music community is impacted by the effect of illegal downloading, even more so in many cases than major music labels or movie studios because margins are so thin for independent labels — because we are not part of larger corporations which might be able to offset losses during leaner years, making a living becomes that much more difficult.

* Independent music labels embrace the Internet as the Internet has been the great equalizer… on the ability to market, promote, monetize and introduce new music.  The Internet has opened up countless opportunities for us.  Why would we do anything to jeopardize that?  A2IM, on behalf of our member community has spent a great deal of time speaking with, hearing from, and reading testimony from legal experts, constitutional experts and technological experts that refute the mis-information campaign that has so many concerned that these bills would suppress free speech, legal innovation or the security of the Internet.

* The time and capital investment required for our community of like-minded, but proudly independent, small business people to monitor the web for infringement and take subsequent legal action simply does not exist. A2IM member music labels simply do not have the financial means or resources to house a stable of systems people and lawyers to monitor the Internet and bombard sites with DMCA takedown notices for seemingly endless illegal links to our music (especially when even successfully removing illegal links is temporary at best as almost all reappear often within seconds).  We do not have the financial means to bankroll field offices in far-flung countries abroad with weak copyright laws. Our members have limited budgets, and whatever living they can eke out is often promptly reinvested back into finding the next new artist or the marketing campaign of an artist already on their roster.

As was noted by the MPAA “our industry not only fully supports free expression, our livelihood is built upon a vibrant First Amendment – it is the foundation of our industry and we would never support any legislation that would limit this fundamental American right.   As had been made clear throughout the legislative consideration of SOPA and the PROTECT-IP Act, neither of these bills implicate free expression but focus solely on illegal conduct, which is not free speech. We agree with Secretary Clinton’s recent statement that “There is no contradiction between intellectual property rights protection and enforcement and ensuring freedom of expression on the Internet.” We also share the Administration’s desire to encourage innovation. The American businesses that are victimized on a daily basis by global Internet thieves are among the most innovative industries in this nation and we welcome the Administration’s support of these American businesses. Every day, American jobs are threatened by thieves from foreign-based rogue websites. This deplorable situation persists because U.S. law enforcement does not have the tools to fight back”

We welcome member comments on this issue.

Posted in News by A2IM

A2IM articulates why independent labels and artists need the proposed legislation that will make foreign based rogue websites accountable under U.S. law.  The Op-ed, which was published in Billboard yesterday, responds to the campaigns of misinformation on various blogs about the “evils” of SOPA/PROTECT-IP.

Read A2IM’s October 2011 Press Release applauding the U.S. House of Representatives Proposed “Stop Online Piracy Act”.

Alligator Records Founder/President and member of A2IM’s Board of Directors, Bruce Iglauer wrote an op-ed in the Chicago Tribune, “Going After Digital Pirates”. Bruce’s piece, which stated his position supporting copyright protection, also came as a response to the proposed legislation, PROTECT IP and SOPA.

Posted in News by A2IM

As you know A2IM supports proposed Congressional legislation (SOPA and Protect IP) that would reduce U.S, consumer access to overseas websites that traffic in unlicensed music distribution like MegaUpload and Rapidshare. Russian President Medvedev recently published an open letter to the G-20 economic group world leaders calling on the G-20 to renegotiate the entire existing legal framework for internet copyright protection. President Medvedev  proposed a default system where copyright owners will be legally presumed to permit all uses on the internet unless they specifically notify the user, similar to the DMCA laws in the U.S. that have not been preventing unauthorized use. Last week we joined our creator colleagues in sending a letter to President Medvedev suggesting a different approach to encourage governments to ensure that their legislation prevents companies from building businesses or maintaining services based on providing access to infringing materials.

Posted in News by A2IM

During November the creator community, led by the Copyright Alliance, of which A2IM is a member, has continued its support of the proposed Protect IP and SOPA legislations in Congress.  Here is a recent Copyright Alliance Op-ed with includes A2IM board member Bruce Iglauer as one of the examples of the challenges entrepreneur creators face as a result of rogue websites that these proposed legislations hope to curb. A2IM will continue its advocacy effort and keep you informed.

Posted in Press Releases by A2IM

A2IM Applauds the U.S. House of Representatives Proposed “Stop Online Piracy Act” Legislation

The American Association of Independent Music (A2IM; www.a2im.org), as the not-for-profit trade organization that represents a broad coalition of independent music labels, comprising more than 30 percent of the music industry’s U.S. recorded music sales market, almost 40 percent of digital sales and well over 80 percent of all U.S. music label releases, applauds our bi-partisan supporters in the U.S, House Of Representatives for today introducing the proposed “Stop Online Piracy Act” legislation.

A2IM’s music label community includes small and medium-sized music enterprises (SMEs) of all types throughout the United States, from Hawaii to Florida, representing musical genres as diverse as our membership. All of our label members have one thing in common; they are small business people with a love for music who are trying to make a living.

This year, independently-owned music labels won over half of the 109 GRAMMYs awarded, but economic reward has not always followed critical success. A2IM members share the core conviction that the independent music community plays a vital role in the continued advancement of cultural diversity and innovation in music both at home and abroad, but we need the assistance of the U.S. government in Intellectual Property anti-piracy enforcement.

While piracy and the resulting music slump is a worldwide problem, the U.S. is particularly hard hit and needs support as we’re losing our place in the world music market. Per the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI, www.ifpi.org) in 2005, the U.S.’s share of the international music market was 34 percent. For 2010 the IFPI reported the U.S. as having 26 percent of world market share. As America’s manufacturing and service sectors continue to shift abroad, Intellectual Property is one of the few potential growth areas for our economy via exports and we, as music creators, small businessmen, and investors in music creation from across the country, need our government’s support for a cooperative effort to restore American global competitiveness in the music business.

The Internet represents a platform for entrepreneurship and expression, but at the same time, it also has produced tremendous financial difficulty for those in the creative community who earn their living from their copyrights, including recording artists, music labels, songwriters, publishers, and those who distribute, market, and provide support to our community. Some of our greatest opponents are search engines linking to sites that allow access to unlicensed music, as is done by services like Google to offshore sites like RapidShare in Germany or MegaUpload in the Ukraine (selling their Google ads along the way), with no piracy search engine linking liability. We need our legislators to focus on limiting access to these websites that encourage illegal activity.

A2IM member music labels as SMEs simply do not have the financial means or resources to engage in widespread copyright enforcement on the Internet, either domestically or abroad. The time and capital investment required for our community of like-minded, but proudly independent, small business people to monitor the web for infringement and take subsequent legal action simply does not exist. It will be tremendously beneficial for those whose livelihood depends on the ability to exploit copyrights in a free market to have a government partner helping advance a worldwide enforceable regime for the protection of Intellectual Property online.

As music creators and investors in the music creation and promotion of our artists, we applaud our bi-partisan legislative supporters and support their proposed actions.

About A2IM:

A2IM is a not-for-profit trade organization serving the Independent music community as a unified voice representing a sector that comprises over 30% of the music industry’s market share in the United States (and almost 40% of SoundScan digital sales). The organization represents the Independents’ interests in the marketplace, in the media, on Capitol Hill, and as part of the global music community. A2IM is headquartered in New York City. The organization’s board of directors is composed of the following: Concord Music Group President Glen Barros; Sub Pop VP Business Affairs Eric Brown; tinyOGRE Entertainment COO Jim Cooperman; Epitaph General Manager Dave Hansen; Yep Roc Records co-owner Tor Hansen; Alligator Records Founder/CEO Bruce Iglauer; The Beggars Group Founder/CEO Martin Mills; Kill Rock Stars President Portia Sabin; Jim Selby, Naxos of America CEO, Tommy Boy CEO/Founder Tom Silverman; Razor & Tie COO Victor Zaraya.

For press information on A2IM, please contact Elizabeth Lutz [elutz@shorefire.com] or David McTiernan [dmctiernan@shorefire.com] at Shore Fire Media, 718.522.7171.