(idm) R.I.A.A. and pressing plants (rather relevant)

From Rodney Perkins
Sent Mon, Aug 10th 1998, 18:46

A friend just sent this to me and since a number of people run CD-Rs,
dubplates, and mix-CDs, it seems like a relevant post. Has anyone here hit
this wall? 

>Subject: uncleared samples
>
>
>Amazingly bad news has just come down the pike that I thought worth
>mentioning here.  It would appear that the R.I.A.A. (the dreaded
>Recording Industry Association of America, they who wanted a blank
>tape tax, among other things) has rather recently begun their latest
>Major Crackdown on "piracy", this time on "uncleared" samples -  and
>the target is pressing plants.
>
>We were informed yesterday by our manufacturer for years of releases
>that they were refusing to manufacture the new Negativland OVER THE
>EDGE disc due to a Pink Floyd sample that they detected within which
>we had not cleared.  Trying to explain that this was a radio show with
>lots of sources mixed in was obviously a failure and rather suddenly
>our production schedule ground to a halt...but that's only part of the
>story.  Through this incident, we learned of an industry-wide R.I.A.A.
>clampdown.
>
>Apparently, they've declared war on this heinous form of piracy by not
>only citing disc manufacturers $100,000 per supposed infraction, but
>by presenting new guidelines stating, among other things, that a
>pressing plant possessing an item in question (and I emphasize IN
>QUESTION) must turn over that item and all master parts to the
>R.I.A.A. for "investigation".  In other words, it's no longer the case
>that a LABEL is solely responsible for its "content": the pressing
>plants are both the new cops _and_ the new victims.  Pressing plants
>are actually LISTENING to the masters they get and looking for
>ringers!  It had previously seemed very hard to imagine some staff
>person at a pressing plant sitting in front of a CD player, finger on
>the scan button, searching for unauthorized reproductions.  It's
>happening.  The R.I.A.A. has positioned itself as judge and jury.  The
>ramifications for this are rather enormous.
>
>We immediately learned of several other releases by various labels
>around the country who have suddenly had their pressings refused by
>different makers (this is by no means exclusive to our
>manufacturer...we learned of huge fines being levelled at other
>plants).  In one case, a CD was refused that was to be a not-for-sale
>short-run for club DJ's only.
>
>The R.I.A.A. is basically a corporate watchdog for the Big Six
>mega-companies (Time Warner, et al)  in the US.  They are being
>extremely vague about just what "guidelines" they have instituted,
>which they expect to be complied with, are.  My friend Steve (who was
>on the committee which helped fund SONIC OUTLAWS) remarked something
>to the effect of, "what AUTHORITY does the RIAA really have?  They're
>not the state, and a pressing plant might not necessarily be paying
>them dues or considering them in any way, so what right do they have
>to dictate manufacturing?"  And if he's on-the-money here, WHY
>shouldn't plants be telling them to fuck off or butt out??  He also
>questioned how they could enforce payment of a fine.
>
>Naturally, everyone is immediately thinking the same thing: taking it
>BACK into the home studio is such the logical choice.  Big problems,
>though: CD-R's are delicate.  Accelerated aging tests have shown that
>they don't retain their information indefinitely, and more to the
>point, they are very sensitive to heat and light.  And also to
>touching the top layer (with a sticker or some sort of writing) is
>risky.  AND there are compatibility issues with them: evidentally they
>have trouble being read by some CD players (www.fadden.com is a great
>resource for CD-R FAQ).
>
>In any case, on the level of mass replication, this will very likely
>have a huge effect on the entire found/recycled music culture should
>the R.I.A.A.'s Big Brother tactics not abate soon.  At the very least,
>very close to home, the new Negativland release and the ENTIRE back
>catalog is now completely up in the air.  We think we've found a plant
>to handle the current release but we have no idea if it will actually
>go through or not!   Who would have touched DISPEPSI under
>circumstances like these??
>
>P C
>on behalf of NEGATIVLAND
>