5.04.2004
Per our outdoor file-sharing conversation last week
Coleman: Music industry must adapt to technology
Emily Johns, Star Tribune Washington Bureau Correspondent
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., told songwriters, lawyers and other music industry participants Monday that if the recording industry wants to survive the trend of downloading music, the industry will have to adapt rather than fight evolving technology.
Coleman, chairman of the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, spoke at the Future of Music Coalition Policy Summit in Washington and told industry leaders that litigation is not the answer.
"You are the creative force in America; be creative," Coleman said. "I don't believe you can stop illegal use by suing a few people."
Coleman has taken a leading role in investigating problems the recording industry faces with "peer-to-peer" downloading or Internet file swapping of copyrighted music. In the past several months he has met with representatives of the Recording Industry Association of America, the Motion Picture Association of America, Universal Studios and the Distributed Computing Industry Association, a group that represents the computer industry.
Coleman said the recording industry is going to have to develop more competitive alternative business models in order to keep the industry running in an era of digital technology.
But suing customers, he said, is not a good business strategy.
"The answer is not going to come from government. The answer is not going to come from Washington," he said.
Paul Metsa, a Minneapolis songwriter and music director for Famous Dave's Barbeque and Blues in Uptown who also attended the summit, said that although Coleman was speaking to a "primarily liberal" audience, he is one of the only Congress members taking a firm stand on the issue of file sharing.
Metsa said he has known Coleman for 20 years.
"He might have the head of a Republican, but he's got the heart of a Democrat," Metsa said. "He's bright and very soulful -- the arts are very important to him."
Emily Johns, Star Tribune Washington Bureau Correspondent
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., told songwriters, lawyers and other music industry participants Monday that if the recording industry wants to survive the trend of downloading music, the industry will have to adapt rather than fight evolving technology.
Coleman, chairman of the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, spoke at the Future of Music Coalition Policy Summit in Washington and told industry leaders that litigation is not the answer.
"You are the creative force in America; be creative," Coleman said. "I don't believe you can stop illegal use by suing a few people."
Coleman has taken a leading role in investigating problems the recording industry faces with "peer-to-peer" downloading or Internet file swapping of copyrighted music. In the past several months he has met with representatives of the Recording Industry Association of America, the Motion Picture Association of America, Universal Studios and the Distributed Computing Industry Association, a group that represents the computer industry.
Coleman said the recording industry is going to have to develop more competitive alternative business models in order to keep the industry running in an era of digital technology.
But suing customers, he said, is not a good business strategy.
"The answer is not going to come from government. The answer is not going to come from Washington," he said.
Paul Metsa, a Minneapolis songwriter and music director for Famous Dave's Barbeque and Blues in Uptown who also attended the summit, said that although Coleman was speaking to a "primarily liberal" audience, he is one of the only Congress members taking a firm stand on the issue of file sharing.
Metsa said he has known Coleman for 20 years.
"He might have the head of a Republican, but he's got the heart of a Democrat," Metsa said. "He's bright and very soulful -- the arts are very important to him."
