Re: Patents, Royalties and other Scams...???


"Iain M Churches" <tael@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:dhja3q$8eb$1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
> "Keith G" <keith_g@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
> news:433d042c$0$3599$cc9e4d1f@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>
>> "Iain M Churches" <tael@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
>> news:dhiu2s$hu6$1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>>
>>> "Keith G" <keith_g@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote
>>
>>
>>>> The MI works to the following set of rules:
>>>>
>>>> Rule 1 - We will shaft you (CD prices in the UK etc.)
>>>
>>> Have you considered that in some areas of the world (the former
>>> Eastern bloc, and the FarEast) that pirate/counterfeit recordings
>>> account for 95% of sales?
>>
>>
>> Only two things make 'counterfeiting' viable in my book - overpricing
>> and/or rareity...
>
> But even these circumstances do not make it permissible.


Not the point. Overpricing and rareity *cause* the counterfeiting be it
music, watches, clothing or Vermeers...


> One can produce counterfeit CDs and colour copy the inlay
> cards for a few pence each. This is an incredibly attractive
> proposition for some, especially when they do not have to
> make any outlay whatsoever regarding the cost of the original
> recording.


Yes. (Hardly 'news' though....)


>
> People do this to fool the public, and make money with little or
> no investment.


Yes, I'm sure some do - to flog at car boots and round the pubs....

(Never been to a car boot in my life, haven't been inside a pub for 5 years
or more - not true, I'm told, we had a meal in one about 3 years ago...)


> Very few people can differentiate between a
> genuine and counterfeit CD.


I disagree but irrelevant anyway...


>
> Interestingly enough, one of the most serious breaches of law is
> the using of a company trade-mark without permission. I have
> seen classical CDs for sale in Moscow, on the Decka label.


Sure. The earliest case of this sort of thing I remember was 'Parner' pens a
number of decades ago...

>
> A common phenomena now is that one child in a school class buys
> a CD, and makes 40 copies for his/her classmates!! You don't have
> to have a degree in applied maths to see there is something wrong
> there:-)


Iain, these unsubstantiated statements mean nothing to me. Express them as
opinion or belief by all means, but don't push them to me as 'factual'....


>>
>>> Thinks what an effect that must have on prices of the genuine
>>> article.
>>
>
>> None whatsoever - the 'rigidity' of CD prices (pitched at whatever the
>> clowns in different countries will pay - UK being the highest AFAIK) is
>> greater than the rock of Gibraltar....
>
> I think it would have a considerable effect. Currently the record
> industry is spending huge amounts of money trying to fight piracy,
> and also produce anti-piracy encryption systems.
> The consumer pays the bill.


What, if piracy ended tomorrow you think the price of CDs would come down?

If you look, I think you'll see the lessons have been learned with DVD
Video - the initially high prices (£30 a copy) have tumbled to about a third
of that for non-current stuff and even current blockbusters are half what
they were only a year or two ago. The 'movie' side has smelled the coffee
and knows it customer base generally has computer access and can shop
globally.

The point I make with CDs is that they have stayed the same price for
decades and, I believe, some have progressively increased..??

Ironic that some of the means to copy this stuff is manufactured/marketed by
firms with a vested interest in producing the 'software'!! (Sony)


>>
>>>>
>>>> Rule 2 - You will not shaft us....
>>>
>>> Piracy/counterfeiting is just that.
>>
>>
>> Yes...
>>
>> (I didn't say their rules were never inviolated... ;-)
>>
>> Iain, I've been down this road too many times now - AFAIC the whole
>> 'piracy' thing is fuelled by a greedy MI who can't/won't wake up to the
>> fact that life's changed since the advent of the WWW.
>>
> Sorry, but whichever way to care to look at it, piracy/counterfeiting , be
> it of a book,a painting or a recording, is theft.


Never said it wasn't. But, in my book, so is overpricing (ie 16 quid for a
CD in the UK, 11 on the continent and 7 in the States for the same item) -
although more commonly called a 'rip-off'.

I have no sympathy with the MI - they *caused* their own problems with their
own greed. (Even worse is when these organisations have the brass arse to
manipulate legislation and enforce pricing controls on their outlets to
support their unending greed...)

I have a number of plain but perfectly fine classical CDs ('Autograph'
label) which cost 1.99 retail - I bought them by the handful. Funny thing
is - orchestras normally have more mouths to feed than pop groups, don't
they...??



.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: The Good Old Days
    ... the younger kids who ask, ... 'vintage' albums on CDs. ... local places other than Barnes and Noble to compare prices, ... I have several of his albums and have always loved ...
    (rec.music.makers.trumpet)
  • Re: Illegal Downloaders Face Ban
    ... I don't download music either. ... Watching Sky New a few weeks back, there was one of the top bods from EMI moaning about the cost of piracy. ... Can't remember word for word but he basically said, that in the old days the studios would set the price of CDs and people bought them, but more recently it's the likes of CD Wow and the supermarkets selling cheaper CDs that the punters weren't prepared to pay the high prices that they wanted and how it wasn't fair and that it would be the same with downloads. ...
    (uk.legal)
  • Re: Internet store recommendations
    ... and that have lower prices? ... I don't demand Berkshire prices, ... Some CDs are exclusive to Japan. ... "Closing Soon" auctions. ...
    (rec.music.classical.recordings)
  • Re: Is it worth collecting rare CDs?
    ... Are these prices artificial - to come crashing down as other versions ... As the universe of buyers for classical CDs shrinks, ... Buying rare CDs has one great advantage over buying their LP ... re-mastered to the next format, that CD will look a little stale. ...
    (rec.music.classical.recordings)
  • Re: Internet store recommendations
    ... I don't demand Berkshire prices, ... Some CDs are exclusive to Japan. ... looks interesting into the basket, visit once a week or so to refresh ...
    (rec.music.classical.recordings)