Music Regulation essays

Music Regulation essays The regulation of music in America has been increasing significantly with the advancements of such companies like Napster and the technology to burn or copy cds. Bands such as Metallica and rap singer Dr. Dre have been some of the leaders in the fight to eliminate the piracy of copyrighted music. Along with these regulations, the parental advisory system that has been in effect since the mid 1980s has also taking many steps to update their system to help parents identify music which includes explicit lyrics and explicit depictions of sex and violence. One of the most controversial companies to ever hit the music industry world is Napster. Napster is a company that has built a system that allows people who log on to its servers, an opportunity to obtain MP3 music files that are stored on the computers of other users who are logged on at the same time. The reason the recording industry is trying so hard to shut down Napster is because the majority of the music being swapped by users is copyrighted and therefore being pirated, or traded without the consent of the industry of the artists who produce the music. Some artists like Metallica, Dr. Dre and Neil Young are among the many in the industry who feel Napster should be shut down or heavily restricted from allowing users the opportunity to obtain copyrighted music. Than there are the artists who feel Napster gives many artists worldwide attention, like Limp Bizkit and The Offspring. (riaa.com/index.cfm) The RIAA contacted Napster in August of 1999 and told them that they had created an interesting technology but that it violated copyright infringement laws. When Napster didnt respond, The RIAA filed a lawsuit against them in December of 1999. Recently the Ninth Circuit Court has ruled that the record industry and other rights holders are required to certify that they hold the rights to specific songs that are available on Napster. Since...