In 1999 a Congressional Aide, authorized only to make spelling and grammatical corrections in a bill, inserted a "technical amendment" into a bill that defined recorded music as a "work for hire" as defined under the 1978 Copyright Act. Three months later, this aide was hired by the Record Industry Association of America as a top lobbyist at a salary that was obviously much higher than he had as the aide!
The clause was inserted into a bill known as The Satellite Home Viewing Act of 1999 after the committee debates were over. By the time anyone found out about the change it was on its way to the president for a signature. This action has stripped millions of artists of their copyright protection for the profit of the record industry. Now regardless of what the contract the artist signs with the record label states, their copyright protection could be lost forever. Ten years later this crime remains uncorrected.
Due to the way record company contracts are constructed, most costs come out of the artist's advances and any hope of making money off their work comes AFTER the rights to their work have reverted back to them.
The irony is that this bit of fancy footwork may have hurt the record labels as badly as the artists they attempted to exploit. More and more artists are refusing record label contracts and have chosen to promote and market their work independently.
When you fail to protect the rights of the individual, it also harms the oppressor.
Represent me! Please restore copyright protection to its rightful owner, the artist.
Please send this image to your elected officials with a demand that they represent you and restore your copyright protection!
Special thanks to MJ, aka Brown Girl with Murder Rank for allowing me to use the photo I took of her in this composition.
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