If you thought our country was in a position where members of congress and the senate were busy spending their valuable time dealing with important issues like fixing the economy, figuring out the best ways to handle the wars or maybe even spending a few moments on passing a budget, possibly dealing with our foreign policy, you would be wrong. While I’m sure we can all agree those issues should be considered important they all fail in comparison to the serious issues addressed in Senate Bill 978. This is a proposed amendment to the federal copyright infringement law that provides penalties of up to five years in a federal prison for (Are you ready for this?) lip-synching on YouTube. If you thought there is prison overcrowding now, just wait until this piece of legislation hits the streets.
“What happened to the congregation at the Yes We’re Christians Church?”
“They’re in jail.”
“What for”?
“They lip synched a song and posted it on YouTube. They thought it was just for fun but turned out to be a big mistake.”
“What Song?”
“O Holy Night.”
“That’s copyrighted?”
“They did the Jamaican rap version done by two quarters Marlando.”
“Oh.”
One of the sponsors of the bill believes it’s an issue of technology rapidly evolving which has caused a need for our laws to be updated so they protect creativity and innovation. Yeah right. Of Course it does. I’m sure if we were to peal away this smoke screen of a politician’s words we would probably find the real motivation for this piece of legislation as a little less noble. I have to believe some members of the record industry probably took a vacation in Washington DC and met with a few members of congress.
“We’re a huge record company and our sales have dropped significantly since the internet became so popular. We need your help.”
“What can I do? I’m just a lowly US Senator who can’t even figure out how to pass a federal budget.”
“We need you to outlaw lip synching on YouTube.”
“Why?”
“Because if we can charge a copyright fee to everyone who lip synchs one of our songs we’ll make a lot of money. The amount will be to a level where our disposable income will increase significantly.”
“So?”
“Do you realize that such disposable income has been known to find its way into the reelection campaign coffers of lowly US Senators who truly appreciate our unique situation with regard to lip synching on YouTube type sites?”
“Damn this new technology. We must close every one of those huge loopholes in copyright law and protect generous companies such as yours against those unscrupulous internet lip synchers.”
“I knew you’d see things our way.”
Opponents of the bill claim it attacks the purpose of the internet which is to encourage communication between people from all over the world. Unfortunately it has also brought porn viewing to a larger than ever before imagined audience but nothing is perfect.
There are legal experts who believe the bill primarily focuses on those who intend to make money from streaming copyrighted material on the Internet (Engaging laughter suppression). I wonder if these are the same people who would like us to believe the TSA actually makes flying safer by radiating or molesting the flying public.
Let’s take the case of Keenan Cahill. Here is a fifteen-year-old high school student with a genetic disorder called Mucopolysccaridosis who lip synchs the top 40 hottest hits on YouTube. He does this from his bedroom and is an international success. Lucky for Keenan record labels have contacted him and requested he use their material in his YouTube videos. I don’t think the average person has a manager or the ability to obtain permission to use a copyrighted song before they record their lip synch for YouTube. I don’t know if there are Senators who have ever watched YouTube, but it’s obvious that many people who lip synch songs haven’t done a lot of planning. In some cases I think such people should’ve really considered sobering up a bit before recording anything.
So if this law passes the record companies will make money from people who actually shell out the cash for their fees and if they don’t the federal government will make money on them from fines being imposed. Isn’t it strange that when big business and big government get together the little guy usually ends up paying for such a union?
I can’t speak for everyone but I’ve seen some very funny lip synching going on during some YouTube videos. One of my favorites is when they have animals singing the songs. I also like the one I saw where you just see people’s lips moving behind these cardboard drawings singing a song. It was hilarious. I think what bothers me and others who feel like I do is that when we see those YouTube videos we’re thinking of it as fun. It’s upsetting to us that the government and record labels don’t see the fun and only view it as just another way to make some money.
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