Why is the music industry falling apart so fast?

Well, when your one remaining business model is to sue the people who are most enthusiastic about your products, you have a problem. But according to a Washington Post article, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has now reached megalomaniacal views on the matter. The story is that the recording labels are claiming in court documents that "ripped" copies of CD tracks, intended for personal use on one's computer or iPod, are unauthorized copies that infringe on their copyright.

Presumably, this logic would extend to the copy you put on your iPod, despite the rather obvious flaw to this logic: the only reason that the iTunes store exists is to download a song to your computer and then copy it to your iPod. This is just absurd, that they would attempt to force us to purchase multiple copies of a recording to support our different devices and locations. Does this mean that I would need to pay once for the CD, a second time for the ripped copy on my computer's hard drive, a third for my iPod, a fourth for my iPod shuffle and a fifth time for my backup hard drive? That $15 compact disk would now cost me, say, $55 (using the going iTunes rate of $10 per album)? And if I don't pay, they could review my blog and sue me for the practice?

Thankfully, this is just a wild claim in a litigation document right now. As I have always understood this practice, attorneys make all sorts of irresponsible claims in filings like these and we shouldn't take them seriously until a judge rules on the specific item. There's no such ruling at this time, I gather, so we needn't worry just yet that the claim has any legal merit. Still, you have to be alarmed at the prospect of these people even trying to apply such a claim. My personal iTunes library would cost me $11,680 to keep on my hard drive (at $10 per CD), and then you could quadruple that sum to cover my backup drive, iPod, and iPod shuffle.

Do they really want anybody to ever buy recorded music again?

CDs listened to today:

• Ralph Vaughan-Williams: Sinfonia Antarctica (Symphony No. 7)
• Various Artists: Northern Exposure: Sasha & John Digweed, disk 2
• Remy Shand: The Way I Feel
• X: Los Angeles/Wild Gift
• Ingram Marshall: Hymnodic Delays
• Kevin Puts: Dark Vigil