This is not a war

The record industry still wants to wage war with its customers. In the USA lawyers battle for the centre-ground on copyright. Companies see copyright as an issue of intellectual property, as though the creation of artists is a commodity, something that can be owned and controlled by corporations.

Well, I was struck by the following quote from Jeff Tweedy, member of the band Wilco. The act of creativity involves a partnership with the audience, not a battle for ownership. The approach to file sharing being taken by the recording industry, is a battle that will not achieve results – it runs contrary to the process of creativity.

The quote is taken from Wired magazine – Wired 13.02: VIEW:

“‘Music,’ Tweedy explained, ‘is different’ from other intellectual property. Not Karl Marx different – this isn’t latent communism. But neither is it just ‘a piece of plastic or a loaf of bread.’ The artist controls just part of the music-making process; the audience adds the rest. Fans’ imagination makes it real. Their participation makes it live. ‘We are just troubadours,’ Tweedy told me. ‘The audience is our collaborator. We should be encouraging their collaboration, not treating them like thieves.'”