Jeff Price, TuneCore CEO & Founder released the following statement regarding the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act Bill.
“I fervently believe the music you create has value. I believe it is your choice to decide if you want to sell your music or give it away for free, not the decision of somebody else. ”
“To that end, a bipartisan group of Senators has introduced a piece of legislation called Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act. This legislation would allow for the U.S. Justice Department to use expedited procedures when cracking down on rogue websites, whose sole purpose is to distribute music and other content to users around the world, for free without your permission.”
” This Act give U.S. Justice Department access to target the worst websites, go to a federal court with the evidence and, if the court finds the website guilty, allows the Justice Department to seize their domain name. Once a site has been seized, the court will issue an order to their business intermediaries (such as ISPs, payment processors, internet registries and registrars, advertisers, etc.) prohibiting them from doing business with these sites. ”
“Do I think this is a perfect solution? No. But I do think any entity that takes something from you and gives it away for free without your permission should be stopped. This is your music. These are your songs. No one should be able to just give them away to (potentially) millions of people without your permission.”
You can support this bill by sending your support to your state’s senators via this website.