IFPI going after swiss DJs3 min read

via de-bug i found these articles on blog.almend and netzpolitik regarding the letters that have recently been sent to swiss DJs by the IFPI – the IFPI in this case meaning the swiss chapter of the International Federation Of Producers Of Phonograms And Videograms, a music rights organisation associated with the RIAA. in these letters 200 swiss DJs were asked to return an attached contract signed or face legal prosecution. bellow, in german, is a list of some of the demands contained in this contract [via].

i have to admit i find these demands to be exsessive and highly restrictive. for instance, if a DJ wants to provide samples of his mixing skills on his website, the audio files can be no longer than 60 seconds, a maximum of 5 such mini-mixes can be online at any given time, they have to be hosted on a swiss server (why?), downloading has to be restricted, no loops allowed, no video can be associated with it. but the part that kills me is where they demand that DJs have to provide the IFPI with the log-files to their websites – after saying the audio can’t be offered for downloads; as such they are treating all visitors as potential pirates – even if, who in their right mind would want to pirate a 60 second mix (speaking of which, how can a 60 second mix say anything about a DJs mixing skills) ??? i am not sure, how this is handleded in other countries, but it seems to me i have not heard of such a restrictive deal from elsewhere. during the time when i used to be an active club DJ the SUISA started to collect fees from clubs, i think that’s the fair approach. the clubs are the “broadcasters”, the DJs just work there. with this contract the IFPI is trying to [over]-regulate the DJ’s self-promotional activities.

with these and similar recent acts somehow one gets the feeling the music industry sees DJs as the enemy, while in fact it should be the other way around. i think DJs should be treated as partners by the music industry. DJs are great promoters for music and other lifestyle objects. if anything, i think the IFPI should ask DJs to make their playlists available, so that if someone likes a track that he hears in a club he can find it and purchase it. and at some time in the future one could even imagine the music industry paying DJs, if they play certain tracks and this leads to sales, a pay-per-sale model.

i am very curious to hear from swiss DJs who received this letter: what are you planning to do? are there efforts to coordinate a response? should all swiss DJ’s move to lichtenstein and self-promote from there? djantoine.li etc.

# Der DJ muss der IFPI von jeder Promo-CD unaufgefordert eine kostenlose Kopie zusenden.
# Wenn der DJ Hörproben eines Sets zwecks Promotion auf seine Website stellt, ist «die Spieldauer eines jeden Ausschnitts auf eine Dauer von 60 Sekunden limitiert.»
# «Die Anzahl der gleichzeitig auf der Website angeboteten Hörproben ist auf 5 Stück beschränkt.»
# «Die Wahrnehmbarmachung via Internet wird mit einer Software bzw. Website-Gestaltung realisiert, die sicherstellt, dass ein Herunterladen (”Download”) oder Speichern [..] verhindert wird.»
# «Jede Tonaufnahme darf nur einmal je “Anklicken” wahrnehmbar sein.» Eine automatische Wiederholung (”Schleife”) der jeweiligen Ausschnitte oder die Verwendung als Hintergrundmusik der Website ist nicht gestattet.
# Die Berechtigungen beziehen sich ausschliesslich auf das HTTP-Protokoll.
# Auf der Website müssen Links zu den Websites von IFPI, SUISA und SWISSPERFORM plaziert werden.
# Der «DJ gewährt IFPI vollumfänglich Einblick in alle bezüglich Internet-Nutzung verfügbaren statistischen Daten (z.B. log-files).»
# «Das Speichern (”Hosting”) [..] ist ausschliesslich auf einem Server mit Standort in der Schweiz gestattet.»
# Der «DJ darf ausschliesslich Tonaufnahmen zur Vervielfältigung verwenden, die nicht aus [..] Online-Tauschbörsen stammen.»
# «Tonaufnahmen, die mit einem Kopierschutz- oder einer sonstigen Schutzvorrichtung versehen sind, der ihre Vervielfältigung verhindert, dürfen nicht kopiert werden.»
# «Tonaufnahmen dürfen nicht mit Videoaufnahmen zusammengeführt werden.»