Nothing's For Free
Except Maybe Over the Internet
Story by Kefing Aperto-Berry /\
Art by Fernando Amaro Jr.

The U.S. Supreme Court has been dealing with one of the most debated issues of our time – file sharing. The case “MGM vs. Grokster” is a struggle to determine the fate of file sharing for the future. MGM is a major corporation who claims that the defendant Grokster, which provides the software to enable person-to-person networks the ability to file share, should be held responsible for the loss of sales due to online piracy.

As a recording artist I can sympathize with other artists who feel that file sharing cheats them out of profit they are due. Ever since the Internet became the technological Mecca of information, file sharing has been a way for people to more or less cheat the system and download files for free. Downloading could be anything from music releases from major labels, independent recording artists to the latest version of Adobe Photoshop. Many people have benefited from file sharing, (an estimated 900 million files are available to download online for free everyday)   but now major corporations are starting to speak up against illegal downloading. Besides the courts, the industry is even proposing a bill that is in Congress that would make a single upload shared with a peer-to-peer network a felony and would result in five years in prison plus a fine of $250,000. The truth is that major record labels make an outrageous amount of money already year in and year out from record sales so they shouldn't be complaining, it's the independent record labels that truly miss out on making a profit.

In terms of music, while proponents of file-sharing defend their right to download, and the industry tries to ban it, the solution may actually be somewhere in between.

One solution is to create a system that monitors the number of downloaded files to regulate file sharing. This law would make it legal to download music as long as it has already been released to the public. The reality is people are never going to stop downloading especially for free, but if there is a law passed that would make it illegal for anyone to download unreleased material, at least artists would have the satisfaction of knowing that the public isn't going to have the opportunity to get their work until the scheduled date of their projects releases.

For example, rapper 50 Cent, a month before his latest release, put out a freestyle mixtape with all his new music on it as a preview to pacify his eager fans and deter them from trying to get the new material earlier than the projected release date. Being an artist myself, I understand the freedom and liberty that comes along with being able to release a project on your own timeline. It gives you the feeling of accomplishment when you have spent so much time working on a project to finally get to the point and say it's ready to be released now.

The idea of passing a law that would protect copyrights of works over the Internet is nothing new. Compulsory licensing is a system that monitors downloads which is being used for satellite and TV radio.

For an artist, file sharing is a great way of promotion but there is a fine line between promotion and giving everything away for free. Specifically for independent recording artist that don't have the comfort of a major label budget, it is a harsh blow to their pockets missing out on record sales due to illegal downloading. It is not only the recording artist who misses out on cash but also the graphic designers, producers, and all the other people involved in the creation and selling of the product.

A large percentage of independent recording artists are working musicians – meaning they got full time jobs outside of being an artist. Rarely do you come across an independent recording artist who is souly living off of their music profits and if so they worked very hard to get to that position. Fans should support the artist by purchasing their material instead of downloading it free of charge. Recording artists need to eat and make a living just like anyone else. So lets at least give them a chance to sell their product in the store, before going straight for the free download.