"A tightening of copyright rules means kindergartens now have to pay fees to Germany's music licensing agency, GEMA, to use songs that they reproduce and perform. The organization has begun notifying creches and other daycare facilities that if they reproduce music to be sung or performed, they must pay for a license. 'If a preschool wants to make its own copy of certain music - if the words of a song or the musical score is copied - then they need to buy a license,' GEMA spokesperson Peter Hempel told Deutsche Welle." Honestly. I wonder how those pro-RIAA/MPAA folk we have on OSNews feel about this. This is EXACTLY why I try to do my part (a small part, but still) in fighting big content. I wonder how much has to happen for our politicians to open their eyes, and see current copyright law for what it really is: pure venom. Poison of the most dangerous kind, which is destroying our very culture, which is stifling art and science. News like this SICKENS me. How anyone can defend something like this is beyond me.
To read all comments associated with this story, please click here.
Member since:2005-06-29
I'm doing my part by using OSNews as a platform to highlight the idiocy that is our current copyright system. Like I said - it's a small part, but getting the information out there is important. Since major TV networks, newspapers, magazines, and most large websites (Gizmodo, Engadget, and so on) are all *part* of big content, this subject doesn't generally get the attention it deserves.
Luckily, my own country has relatively decent laws (go after the people who profit big from piracy, but leave ordinary folk out of it), but I see the pressure exerted by the big content lobby. The current copyright system is stifling the arts and sciences, is hindering human development, and is destroying large bodies of culture. I do my part by using OSNews as a soapbox, and by voting for political parties who take this issue at heart.
Member since:2006-01-12
You are so wrong when saying this is ruining culture, it's total opposite. Fact is that when people pay money for local content licensing agency that money actually goes for local culture, not mass (mostly American) culture. Actually biggest losers in music thing are big foreign artists whom music people want to listen, but since most fees are taken as static fees the payment often goes to local musician.
For example radio fees, they are mostly static fees. You pay certain amount and you can play certain amount whatever. In most cases majority, 90%, of that music is foreign, however majority of that money goes to local artists.
Fair? Hardly, so think that and ask why most local musicians (you know those guys that hardly make more money than we do) are supporting this system. Make they should go work like most of does, damn parasites.
Member since:2010-03-30
The "crime" is obvious in that each student should buy her or his own music... and it's not really that expensive to do so.
You obviously don't buy music sheets. Trust me, they are expensive. All the more when it's not published and available in your country. Even sheets for music that's now in the public domain is expensive.
I don't see schools buying each child in the choir a sheet of Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring... these music majors and publishers should realize that milking the cow has a limit.
Why does Google get so much credit in the technology industry? Why, despite the company's many obvious failings, do many geeks and enthusiasts still hold a somewhat positive view on the all-knowing technology giant? A specific talk at Google I/O this week provides the answer.
OSNews is a sponsor of this year's O'Reilly OSCON in Portland, Oregon, USA. A lucky OSNews reader will win a free three-day pass, including two tutorials days. To win the pass, post a comment on this story saying something about Open Source Software or OSCON. We'll pick a winner at random next week. If you don't have an OSNews account, you may email us your entry. Part of the conference is the 9th annual Open Source Awards, and today the 16th is the deadline for nominations. If you'd like to nominate an outstanding open source contributor, do it here. Read on for more information about OSCON. Update: The 20% discount code for OSNews readers is "OSN."
"Windows is indeed slower than other operating systems in many scenarios, and the gap is worsening." That's one way to start an insider explanation of why Windows' performance isn't up to snuff. Written by someone who actually contributes code to the Windows NT kernel, the comment on Hacker News, later deleted but reposted with permission on Marc Bevand's blog, paints a very dreary picture of the state of Windows development. The root issue? Think of how Linux is developed, and you'll know the answer.
This is one of those news items that's fun to write, fun to read, fun to comment on, and where no one will be able to say anything unkind. It's all just one big ball of awesome fluffiness. TuneTracker, the BeOS radio automation software, has just released something very special: TuneTracker System 5, the first version designed entirely and specifically for Haiku. In fact, it actually includes Haiku in the software package. Better yet, TuneTracker also unveiled several system-in-a-box products - which have Haiku and TuneTracker pre-installed.
Exactly twenty years ago, a document was published that played a huge role in establishing the web as we know it today. Twenty years later, and this simple and straightforward document is proof of an irrefutable fact: while closed technologies can change markets, open technologies can change the world.
Oh multitasking. That staple of computing that got thrown out the window with many modern smartphones. We got some rudimentary thing in its place - but even as multitasking on phone and tablets improves, its user-visible side remains cumbersome. Windows 8 has a neat implementation, and now it's time Android follows in it footsteps.They're here! Whether that excites you or not remains to be seen, but the Galaxy S4, which will most likely become the best selling Android smartphone of the year by a huge margin, has been reviewed by all the major sites, and there's lots of interesting conclusions in there - although I think most of you will get the gist.Nokia has posted its quarterly results for the first quarter of 2013, and just like the quarters that came before, there's not a whole lot of good news in there. The rise in Lumia sales still can't even dream of making up for the sales drop in Symbian phones, and when broken down in versions, the sales figures for Windows Phone 8 Lumias in particular are very disappointing. In North America, Nokia is getting slaughtered.The day has finally come: Google has started shipping Google Glass to the lucky few early adopters. Now that it's shipping, Google has also unveiled a lot more about the API and the specifications of the device itself. While the company had already given out substantial details at earlier occasions, there are still a few surprises here.
Almost exactly three years ago, I wrote about why OSNews was no longer OSNews: the alternative operating system scene had died, and OSNews, too, had to go with the times and move towards reporting on a new wave of operating systems - mobile, and all the repercussions that the explosion of smartphones and tablets have caused. Still, I was wondering something today: why aren't we seeing alternative operating systems on mobile?
Member since:
2010-12-29
Okay lets see, lets see... words out of context... heated subject... yep, nothing new here.
They're just saying that if you want to copy sheet music you have to pay for the copies. I mean, it's not like I can go into a music store, pull out a camera and photograph the scores I want and then leave (oh wait, people actually do that).
Kindergartens aren't likely to be the main target here, school bands are notorious for buying (if even) a single copy of a musical score and then copying it for the entire class.
The "crime" is obvious in that each student should buy her or his own music... and it's not really that expensive to do so.
So drawing back, either the students can buy their own music, or the schools have to pay licensing fees.
One question though, you claim you're doing "your part" here. What /is/ that part? I've heard people say that "music piracy" is their version of "sticking it to the man." Or are you writing letters to your congressman about how Intellectual Property is hurting society / the economy / something?
Edited 2010-12-29 23:43 UTC