RIAA – Its Role In Music Industry
Posted on 25. Jun, 2009 by Susan Reynolds in Music
The role assumed by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has a great deal to do with the music industry all over the US. The central part of this association’s attention is control of good quality music and defending the rights of copy right restricted music. To achieve this RIAA takes recourse to legal measures against people found violating the rules set down by it. Unauthorized downloading of music has been a major problem addressed by it. Any copyright protected music can not be downloaded freely. With impending legal actions by RIAA staring them in face many online music websites had to shut down. It can therefore be said that RIAA plays a critical role in download of music of any sort. A short explanation of the function of RIAA in concern is given below.
The change in priorities has taken place because of frequent unauthorized and illegal copy or download of music that has copy right restriction to it. The movement is presently conducted under Mitch Bainwol. In the 1990’s Napster which was an an online music file sharing service was accessible and people downloaded any kind of music from it without any cost. They would freely download, burn and share music with friends. With the advance of computer technology the issue of copyright protection became more and more sharp.
The only course of action left to RIAA was to ban the online music sharing services like Napster. A legal framework was made to arrest such practices as music download. Strict laws were enacted in the early 2000 to prevent people from illegal download or even purchasing pirated CD’s. Youth were specific targets of RIAA in order to restrict them from downloading music in violation of copyrights
RIAA has also taken to actively educate about its policies. It has paid specific attention to the youth population. It has conducted many seminars, forum discussions, and presentations in order to make youth aware of RIAA’s set ofrules and guidelines. To achieve this goal RIAA has approached many colleges and universities to help them in the matter. As a result universities and colleges have on their part have taken care to not only to educate their students but also making sure that no illegal music downloaded inside the university or college premises.
RIAA has also been blamed by opponents for its lawsuits against blameless people. Lawsuit filed against a kid of age about 12, an aged woman nearly 83 years in age and one against a woman in her 60’s who could hardly use computer have been cited as example of high handedness. Credibility of RIAA has suffered big erosion on account of such actions.
In 2003, RIAA came forth with a law that no actions will be taken against people who had downloaded illegally in the past. No action would be taken against such people if they expressed to not repeating it in future. This step was welcomed by many but the law was belittled in a year’s time.
Generally people are unsure of their feelings towards RIAA. Some are opposed to its actions and criticize it on many scores, but on the other hand there are many who welcome its efforts. In spite of a lack of consistent view about it amongst people in general it has to be accepted that in the last few years it has made remarkable progress.
Many people find the tactics of RIAA unacceptable in spite of RIAA puts a brave defense. Many feel that the policies of RIAA may result in death of music.
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