12 Nov
Is it a Sin to Be a Pirate?
Avast ye, there matey! Perhaps I have taken the title to this entry a little too literally. There are of course many types of piracy. There is the act of stealing at sea without the commission of a sovereign nation (I guess with a commission it is alright), patent infringement, trademark infringement, there is even biopiracy! I however am referring to copyright infringement.
The bane of the music and movie/TV industries right now. Copyright infringement is defined as unauthorized use of material that is protected by intellectual property rights law and it can also refer to unauthorized reproduction and distribution of electronic and audio-visual media. (Definitions and the cute little Pirate Guy obtained through Wikipedia.)
During the heyday of Napster and other file sharing programs, copyright infringement was pretty common among those who where educated about such things. I found several songs that I took from other computers via Napster. I never downloaded whole albums, just a few songs here and there. After the fall of the centralized Napster, other decentralized file sharing clients popped up. Today you can download a free BitTorrent client and start downloading movies and TV shows (an activity that I have also dabbled in and suggested to others via the Cranium Leakage Podcast, I believe in Episode 8.)
So what is a Christian to do? Is copyright infringement (CRI) stealing? Evidently there are some Christians who justify CRI by saying they are somehow spreading the Christianity. This is an idea explored in a recent article in the Los Angles Times called Pirating Songs of Priase.
Surveys show that born-again Christian teens are just as active in stealing and swapping music as their secular peers who pinch the latest Eminem rap hit or Kelly Clarkson power ballad.
It comes down to a show-off between “Spread the Word and Thou shalt not steal” for some Christians.
“What we’re seeing is young people and youth pastors are bringing this moral perspective that, well, it’s not exactly right to download the music, but from their point of view they’re doing it for greater good, and in their minds that offsets it to some degree,” said David Kinnaman, vice president of Barna Group.
From my perspective, it isn’t just Christian youth who are having an issue with this. As a member of my church’s media team, we are often asked for recording of sermons which we are more than happy to give away, we even podcast them on our church website. Then there are those requests for a music performance. Those can be difficult.
It normally goes something like this:
Church-type Person (CTP): Yes, I just loved that song that so and so sang last week. It was just lovely.
Me: Yes, it was very nice.
CTP: It just blessed me so much.
Me: I’m glad you enjoyed it.
CTP: I was wondering… Would it be possible to get a copy of it?
Me: I’m sorry, that is against copyright law, the track that was used can only be used for performances only. We don’t record the special music, unless it is in the Public Domain or it is an original song and we have been given permission to record it.
CTP: (Totally ignoring the fact that I just said we didn’t record it, or it is worse if they ask before a performance.) Oh, well, it would just be for me, no one else.
Me: I’m sorry, we can’t do that.
CTP: I’ll even take a tape, it doesn’t have to be on CD (as if the tape is more legal).
Me: It’s not about the CD or the tape, it is just illegal. I’m sorry.
CTP: Oh I just loved that song so much…
Me: Maybe I could find out who recorded it for you and you could purchase the album?
CTP: It just wouldn’t be the same without so and so singing it…
Me: I’m very sorry.
CTP: Well thank you anyway.
People can kind of get mean about cantatas and such.
This is an issue that I deal with from time to time still. For example, for the last two years I have given students in my class a DVD with a video that I made. It has music that is protected but I give it out anyway.
One thing I do know is that copyright needs to be revisited and changes should be made. If things keep going like they are, there will be no more new public domain works, not if Disney has anything to say about it.
Class dismissed!
Posted by Tony Rosen on 12.11.06 at 10:17 pm
My big thingy way of looking at it …
If you pirate a song/cd/movie/game/whatever, you are taking money from the artist of said song/cd/movie/game/whatever.
If that artist is a Christian, and it is their ministry, you would literally be taking God’s money … “Which brings us back to Doe-Doe-Doe-Doe…”
Posted by Andrew on 12.11.06 at 10:17 pm
You’re exactly right that copyright law needs to be revisited. Technically, any time a musician performs a copyrighted work (in church, on the street corner, in a house church, wherever), he or she is violating copyright law unless he or she has permission to perform that work. But a lot of well meaning Christian folks don’t think twice about copyright violation in those terms.
Good post.
AC
Posted by Pressed on 12.11.06 at 10:17 pm
The copyright laws seem to be extremely confusing at times too! Trying to figure out what is ok and what isn’t can simply be a pain in the booty. Half the time we are breaking some kind of copyright law and have no clue. When we come to a point were we begin to care about whether or not we are breaking the law, it is extremely difficult for a person who wants to do the right thing. The laws need to be cleared up. If the law is too complicated to figure out and too unrealistic to follow, then that doesn’t provide much motivation for people to do the right thing.
Posted by Lance on 12.11.06 at 10:17 pm
About 7 months ago I posted some of my thoughts. on this very topic. Here’s an excerpt:
Looking back, that seems pretty harsh and possibly just wrong. But I haven’t read or heard much since then that’s changed my perspective!
Posted by Michael Morgan on 12.11.06 at 10:17 pm
Also when parents are video recording all those performances many copyright laws are broken. Weddings are also a big one when people ask to record the service and when the people that are video recording are breaking the copyright laws if there are songs that are not Public Domain.
Posted by Michael Thomas on 12.11.06 at 10:17 pm
The thing about software is that you’re not actually taking anything from anyone. If I steal your couch, you are without a couch. If I copy a song from someone, they still have the song.
So we make copies of songs, big deal. In keeping with the couch scenario, what if I saw a couch in a store I liked, but knew how to make couches myself. If I took that design and went into my shop and created a replica of that couch, would it be illegal? No, not as long as I wasn’t selling the couch for profit. I have the tools to copy music, just like people have tools to copy furniture, clothing, etc. I don’t see the difference.