I tried to set up a mix CD exchange on this forum I post on, and almost immediately Queenie McTattlePants posted, "you can't make mix CDs, they violate copyright laws" and then Princess Kissybutt added, "Artists who don't respect other artists copyrights can't expect to have their copyrights respected."
Oh give me a break. I'm not selling the CDs on the street, I'm not turning a profit. That to me, is violating copyright because I'm making money off someone else's work. How does it hurt anyone if I burn a couple Smiths songs and a Seatbelts tune onto a CD and mail it to Pretty_Nanci_Fairy in Omaha? It doesn't.
Actually, many of the CDs I own are because I bought the album after hearing it on a mix CD — The Lightning Seeds CuckooCloudLand, ("Pure" Effie 1), Trash Can Sinatras I've Seen Everything ("Hayfever" also on Effie 1) Tom Waits Closing Time ("Rosie," I Hope that I Don't Fall in Love with You," and "Grapefruit Moon" For You, For Everything, for Always) and The Killers Hot Fuss("All These Things I've Done" Music for Your Basement Apartment) So actually, I put some money in Brandon Flower's hipster pocket! Now maybe he can buy himself a shave!
By that logic, if you lend a book or a DVD to a friend, you're violating copyright, because your friend didn't pay for the book themselves. And get ready to dance the prison samba if you buy a CD from the dollar bin at a used music store or a garage sale because you weren't putting twenty bucks directly into Pete Doherty's arm.
Ever notice how the only people who complain about people "stealing" music are the richest bastards in the universe? And how all the independant artists, the ones who could use the money so they didn't have to work at a bakery and could focus on their music, are the ones giving away free tracks on their websites? That's because it's about the music for them, it's not about new cars and tequila distilled from diamonds. I don't even need to point out the lack of severity of my crime in contrast to say, the war in Iraq, school shootings, or grown men dressed like Peter Pan
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