The Trades Union Council are asking for Companies to be nominated who are SCROOGE this Christmas!

Well I nominate BMG or SICO TV - S RECORDS - who yesterday threatened alleged "Legal Action" to a True Fans website of one of the X Factor Artists, recordings from TV, not 100% quality with all that silly false cheering (note at the same time in every song) - how SCROOGE can this be - it is about time the Public became SCROOGE back to These Companies and cut back on spending money with them, it can work two ways!

IT IS SO SAD BMG!


J

Sorry, can you let me know exactly what they are threatening the legal action for, it's not totally clear? Is it for recording from TV and then putting it on the website?

This is all the information I have from an email from The Website overnight, I find it so sad, if it a copy of the record and top quality yes, if the photo's where copyright and not just screen captures which every website uses, this is so Petty!!


Site Bad News:

Unfortunately I have been contacted by BMG and requested to remove any MP3's & still images from the X Factor show which were on the website. Obviously I have had to adhere to this otherwise face legal action

Even though it is sad, there is such a thing as copyright.....how would you feel if you had a really good thing that you were really proud of and someone just stole it and used it without your permission?

Do you want to be Scrooge as well - I know Copyright Laws, I work in the music industry and though I get promotion copies of CD's when I want one for the car I buy it!! and never burn it onto CD.

But please a not good quality MP3 track recorded from TV and screen shot photo's from a TV screen, copyright can be taken a little too far!! - I think more "GREED" that would make a good track!

J

It may seem a bit stingy, but to be fair you are brwaking the law so you don't really have much to complain about. I realise that a massive company like BMG probably wouldn't loose much sleep over a fan site, but they are within their rights. Your mp3s are effectively Bootlegs, and you'll just have to accept it.

BMG are being foolish - and they're not the first company to do so. Fan-sites - whilst technically in breach of copyright, help generate publicity and a fan-base for their artists. This move will have been made by some pen-pushing jotter-blotter accountant at BMG who doesn't understand art, and refers to music as "product" and albums as "units".

Sad face of the music industry these days.

That's accountantism. Some of my best friends are accountants.

While I agree to seom extent.........it is still a business..

It was a business 20 years ago when bootlegs were freely traded in NME - and yet artists sell a fraction of the records, and make less profit off them these days (and that includes pre-downloads). Hmmm.... wonder why?



I'm sure some accountants are lovely - even loveable people.


Just not the ones in the music industry

That's generally because only acts with mass appeal are promoted these days.....acts that don't fit the chart demographic are largely ignored.

Ah the NME, fond memories of buying that and Melody Maker in the "Britpop" years.........

Completely agree. The problem is what most major labels consider "mass appeal" is considered bland and turgid by most (adult) fans. How many cash-cows like Queen, U2 - even Iron Maiden - have been lost by major labels in the last 10 years considering them "uncommercial". Idiots and bean-counters the lot of them!.

Absolutely.......add cash cows lie Alex Park and Michelle McManus to that list too...really talented people with no......er, hang on, .........

God I was just lost in an alternate universe for a minute there....that was scary.

It's because there are only four major labels left now and they are not just music companies but global multi nationals where the people right at the top call the shots. The small independents have more integrity but not as much money to risk failure. That's why the charts are bland and turgic and it will only be if something breaks out from grass roots level to become more mainstream that music changes - that hasn't happened for a long, long time.

Okay we all know MP3's are illegal, but check out any fan site, I just don't understand why issue "Threats" to a website with perhaps 100 fans and the big dealers who deal in CD Bootlegs get away with it!

This is nothing buy Nit Picking! and forget any Accountant - One spoiled Brat will have issued the instruction, Mr Me Me Me!

As G4 said on this morning about the three month rule, unless real presure is put on Mr Cowell and his SICO TV Company - he will make them stick to it to the day, did he do the same with Gareth Gates after WILL! - No Way, Yes two faced as Usual!

J

Sorry, but I must disagree, when G4 agreed to be a part of the X Factor they would have signed a contract which had all these stipulations written into it to break them would mean breaching said contract and then they could face legal action. It is only 3 months, Simon could have killed their careers by factoring in a years embargo....

Simon and his company (as far as I know) were not the authority behind Poop Idol and so your point about Will and Gaz isn't really valid i'm afraid.