New York, NY (Top40 Charts/ Shore Fire Media) - A2IM applauds the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigations division seizure of website addresses known for either hosting unauthorized music or films or allowing web searches for unauthorized music and films elsewhere on the internet. A2IM's independent music label members are small business people from across the United States, who make their living by creating and supporting the music they love.
Now is a critical time for us to speak up. Intellectual property has never been more vital to our national economy and job creation, especially given the state of the manufacturing and service industries in our country.
We need to support and protect the creators of intellectual property, and those that invest in that creation, from websites that traffic in music without the permission or approval of the creators of the music, or any compensation to them for their work and investment.
Given the state of the music industry economy, and the limited resources of our members to fight piracy, we applaud government support to ensure the rights of our community are protected from the criminal actions of those who are creating websites to illegally distribute our music. This weekend's actions follow strong statements of support for Intellectual Property by President Obama's administration, most notably Vice President Biden's comments in June stating definitively that "piracy is theft", as well as the legislative support provided earlier this month by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy and his committee, which we also applaud, passing unanimously S.3804 "Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act ("COICA")"to combat web piracy.
While our members have embraced the internet and the access and direct relationships that it creates between our artists and their fans, that relationship is for legal content with fans that respect the creative process and the investment that creation entails. But without government protections these relations are undermined and the long-run investment in the creative process will be diminished. Government mandated protections from these websites that benefit solely from the illegal usage of creative works are vital first steps toward preserving our industry by helping to defend our members' businesses and allowing American artists and creators to both earn a living and continue to invest in the creative process.
About A2IM:
A2IM is a not-for-profit trade organization serving the Independent music community as a unified voice representing a sector that comprises over 30% of the music industry's market share in the United States (and almost 40% of SoundScan digital sales). The organization represents the Independents' interests in the marketplace, in the media, on Capitol Hill, and as part of the global music community. A2IM is headquartered in New York City.
The organization's board of directors is composed of the following: Concord Music Group President Glen Barros; Sub Pop VP Business Affairs Eric Brown; tinyOGRE Entertainment COO Jim Cooperman; Epitaph General Manager Dave Hansen; Razor & Tie Executive Vice President Dan Hoffman; The Beggars Group CEO/Founder Martin Mills; Lookout Records co-owner Molly Neuman; Kill Rock Stars President Portia Sabin; Tommy Boy CEO/Founder Tom Silverman.
For more information, or to become a member, please visit www.A2IM.org.
