Radiohead != $0  #
Thursday, 06 Dec 2007 09:47AM
Radiohead are soon (10th Dec) to shut down their In Rainbows download-for-I-dunno-whatever site.

After than, the only legitimate way to get the album will be to buy the US$80 massive box set, or wait for the normal CD version (or I suppose iTunes/Amazon MP3).

Which brings me to the following thought... I think this is the first time a significant popular band has effectively deliberately and publicly released an album for free in non-DRM MP3 format, then pulled that release and asked you to buy it on CD.

This whole set of events serves as an interesting analogy to TV.

Yes, the album was effectively free, but the only legal way to get it was via the official Radiohead website. Any other copying between individuals was/is illegal.

Sure "no one gets hurt", but this is the point of "copy right". Only Radiohead has the right to give you a copy of their album. Even if they give it to you for free. They also have to right to stop giving it away for free.

TV?

Yes, TV is free. But the only legal way to watch it is through your aerial (or these days via the broadcaster's website, or iTunes).

Until they stop broadcasting it and ask you to buy the DVD (or download).

The analogy isn't perfect (there is no such thing), but if you're willing to understand that it isn't OK to hand out copies of Radiohead's album (mp3s) even though they give it away for free, you should understand where TV stations are coming from when they want to shut down TV torrents.

Just because TV was broadcast for free, doesn't mean it's free to copy.

Perhaps the misunderstanding is capitalism's fault? If something is free as in dollars, it has no rights. Perhaps people brought up in a capitalist society can never truly understand any law about "product" that has nothing to do with money?