Bowie, my understanding is that DJs are not considered "live performers", but a licencing fee still has to be paid for the broadcasting of copyrighted content - same as the music you hear in the lift or on call waiting.
This article is genuinely scary - I think it's actually turned me off participating in international internet mix-CD swapping, knowing customs could open one of my envelopes, find my mix CD, and have no qualms about prosecuting me.
Packages are actually being opened a lot more these days, too - stuff I've won off Ebay, innocuous stuff from o/s - it's now all getting eyeballed. Very odd.
The last thing sent to me that customs opened was a packet of Whittard's mango tea. They put in a pamphlet saying that tea with fruit pieces can't be imported but left the tea intact. Odd.
I wonder whether anybody will be prosecuted for trafficking in pirated content in this way. I'd like to think that sort of thing wouldn't happen, though in the current climate, that's not so certain.
I should track down some old tape trader friends and see if they're getting looked at lately... amusing though that they're only just cracking down on this stuff in customs now that there is a way to do (trade CD quality live/mix/whatever tapes) outside of meatspace.
Btw, did you know that copying your CDs for personal use is technically illegal in Australia? There is no exemption for making a copy to listen to in the car, or ripping them to your iPod, or whatever. So if ASIO/the AFP raid your home looking for drugs/terrorist weapons/&c. and find a hard disk full of MP3s, you can do time for it.
Now might be a good time to brush up on your hard-disk-destruction techniques. (I hear disassembling it and dropping the platters into sulphuric acid works well.)
From the SMH article - "Music piracy, he often reminds people, helps finance organised crime and international terrorism..."
Reading this makes me laugh. A couple of Septembers ago I'd have been called cynical for pointing out that they'd eventually resort to this...
Interesting thought, acb. We might end up with a backyard industry built around literally underground (so as to avoid detection,) highly destructible file servers which link to a cluster of users' PCs via WiFi or something. If The Feds come, the users send a panic signal that floods the PC casing with acid and shuts down the wireless link. Those running these wireless networks under the noses of The Law would be like the Beer Barons of prohibition times: "I swear officer, no contraband content being enjoyed here!"
Hmm, reminds me of that bit in Cryptonomicon where... oh geez. It's about time I started doing my second read of that.
Made me think of that too.
Making copies of *any* recorded material in Australia is strictly verboten, as I understand it: even putting vinyl to tape is illegal...
Coming up: AFP raid Apple stores, subpoena lists of iPod purchasers.
Serious question to a DJ. Do you know if the venues you play at have to pay fees to APRA? And do you need to fill out performance scripts?
As a band we generally play at venues that have paid cash to APRA. At the end of the year we send a form telling APRA what songs we played (99% of then are our songs but I assume cover bands have to do the same thing), then APRA distributes a $1 per song played to the writers of said song.
How long before they start cracking down hard on DJ "performing" copyrighted songs live? Or are they already?