Stealing Music Was the Late '90s Version of Drug Experimentation in the '60s
How Music Got Free author Stephen Witt on the creation of the MP3 and the death of the music industry
HD Download"Widespread copyright infringement is like a generational shift and ignorance of existing law, similar to massive experimentation with illegal drugs in the 1960s," says Stephen Witt, author of How Music Got Free: The End of an Industry, The Turn of the Century and the Patient Zero of Piracy. The book was named on the "Best of the Year" lists of The Washington Post, Forbes, Slate, The Atlantic, Financial Times and others.
In an interview with Reason TV, Witt discussed talked about the quirky German engineers who invented the MP3, and why he thinks they're hypocrites for claiming to be against piracy when they owe their own personal fortunes to it.
Also discussed were the lawsuit which led to the legalization of the MP3 player and the subsequent devastation to the industry's bottom line, as well as the North Carolina factory worker who personally leaked thousands of the biggest albums of the 2000s.
Runtime about ten and a half minutes.
Produced by Anthony L. Fisher. Camera by Jim Epstein with help from Dan Rogenstein.
Music: "HEY DOOBIE" by Jared C. Balogh (http://www.alteredstateofmine.net)
Scroll down for downloadable versions and subscribe to ReasonTV's YouTube Channel to receive notification when new material goes live.
Hide Comments (0)
Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.
Please
to post commentsMute this user?
Ban this user?
Un-ban this user?
Nuke this user?
Un-nuke this user?
Flag this comment?
Un-flag this comment?