"Live at the Witch Trials"

Filed in archive Analysis on April 20, 2006

Pitchfork writer J T. Ramsay interviews entertainment lawyer Steve Gordon on the future of the recording business and the state of its transition to a digital world. Gordon shares excellent insights on the industry.

An excerpt:

It's hard to believe that more than six years since Shawn Fanning's tête-à-tête with the RIAA introduced the American legal system to peer-to-peer filesharing, so much still remains unclear. While the RIAA v. Napster proceedings polarized the industry and consumers, it also brought to light the tensions inherent in the development of these new technologies and their applications. In some respects, the Napster case revealed that beneath the democratization of new technologies lie complicated legal questions, and the sprawling, powerful tendrils of copyrights, patents, and intellectual property.

Little has been done in the interceding years to change perceptions of the industry. To many, the RIAA is a Faceless corporate monolith dedicated to criminalizing consumers and closing black market loopholes. Accordingly, the RIAA rethought its legal strategy and began prosecuting cases very quietly against unsuspecting victims, rather than suffer further public relations disasters in high-profile cases. Last November, defense attorney Ray Beckerman started documenting these cases at his blog Recording Industry vs. The People in an effort to make public the ongoing legal drama as it unfolds.

Steve Gordon, an entertainment lawyer and contributor to Digital Music News, contends that the RIAA needs to make creative concessions and re-imagine its business model to survive in an evolving legal and technological environment. He introduced us to the players behind the lawsuits and what the battle over digital music means for consumers, labels, and artists.