Bar Performer Arrested For Copyright Violations 282
Edis Krad writes, "An elderly Japanese bar manager and performer has been arrested for playing copyrighted songs on his harmonica. From the article: 'Investigators accuse Toyoda of illegally performing 33 songs such as the Beatles' songs "Here, There and Everywhere" and "Yesterday," whose copyrights are managed by the Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers. He allegedly performed the songs on the harmonica with a female pianist at the bar he operated between August and September this year.' This is for all those kids who are learning chords on their guitars — be ready to pay fees for practicing 'Smoke On The Water.' This story seems to be legit, though it reads like an Onion piece. It's only being reported in the Mainichi Daily News via MSN.
Serves him right (Score:5, Insightful)
Stealing from poor, hardworking, underpaid, struggling artists like mulit-multi-millionaire Sir Paul.
Not quite kids with guitars (Score:5, Insightful)
Unless the guitar-playing kids are imposing a cover charge when playing for Aunt Sally, I think they are free from worry...
Paranoid Slashdot Readership: Totally offtopic (Score:2, Insightful)
Crazy... (Score:5, Insightful)
It's not like if he recorded what he's playing and then sell it on it would risk losing sales to the original artists.
His actions had zero impact on sales for those artists/labels in the unlikely event it had any impact at all it would have been slightly positive (e.g. someone gets tune stuck in their head and seeks out the original).
Good news, everyone! (Score:5, Insightful)
Why is this even a story? (Score:4, Insightful)
Is this somehow different because he's Japanese? Elderly? Using a harmonica? Someone clue me in here.
Oh, right, it's because of some vague, imagined connection to DRM or some other fantasy of
ASCAP is almost 100 years old, and BMI is nearly 50. They have *thousands* of court cases, based on hundreds of years of precedent in common law, that solidify their rights. The right, for example, to collect fees for performance of its members' works. You have a problem with that? Go live somewhere it ain't so. Somewhere like... well, nowhere, really.