The U.S. doesn't have anti-piracy laws that work. We never have.
Time to stop pandering to piracy. The piracy revolution is over and yes there will always be a generation clinging to their failed revolution, forever. It happens with every generation, mine was Vietnam. As a war protester, it shaped my attitude toward the senselessness of the US fighting wars in foreign places where we have no business.
Let me share with you what else I learned and maybe the dedicated pirates can stop hating and see reality. What I learned over time was that blaming the soldiers was a huge mistake on my part. The soldiers who fought in Vietnam did so because old men had sent them there. They were doing what they believed was their duty to their country. Here I was deriding young men and women who were risking their lives serving their country.
Men and women who came back or didn't come back. Many traumatized for life or permanently injured. I'm ashamed that I added to their pain, when all my anger needed to be directed at the men who sent them there.
Now, I'm still a war protestor, but if I see a Veteran I have total respect and gratitude for what they've done. Yes, sometimes I even go up to them and thank them for their service. I would have something very different to say to Dick Cheney.
So perhaps someday those pirates who have fought so vigorously for not paying, will realize that there are musicians and songwriters who struggle mightily to make a go of it; they don't or probably never will ride around in a limo or live lavish lives. They never wanted to sue their fans for pirating music, but have been so maligned by the piracy faithful that they're afraid to speak their truth.
Everybody deserves to get paid fairly for their work, even creators. Or in my case, especially creators.
Artists need to sell their work to survive and when they get a check from Spotify for $19.76 what do you think their reaction is. "Yippee?" What do they tell their wives or their family or their friends when they get questioned about their "career" choice?
Does anyone really believe that the record labels would have ever signed the Spotify deal if they hadn't struggled so unsuccessfully with piracy for so long?
Why aren't artists able to get their work removed from pirate sites where somebody else is making money off their work? How revolutionary is that?
We don't even have an anti-piracy law that works. It's time we did.
It is time to End Safe Harbor Protection For Pirates.
Photo Credit: iStock © Imgorthand