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By Chris Henderson of 3 Doors Down
Big plastic bubble packs…security cameras…tags that set off a security alarm if someone tries to take a music CD or DVD out of the store without paying for it. Shoplift a music album in a store in my hometown of Escatawpa, Miss., or anywhere else in America, get caught, and the perpetrator will be at least big-time embarrassed, and likely slapped with a criminal record.
But a popular misperception of this push-button Technological Age is that stealing music electronically is nothing but a little mischief. Swipe music on the Internet or burn a duplicate CD and the perp will probably get away with it.
A tougher attitude is needed, because stealing music with a computer or handheld is not just mischief-it's outright stealing from songwriters, singers and musicians.
Ironically, technology is going in two directions at once. On the one hand, advanced security systems are making it tougher to shoplift a $15 CD from the music store. On the other, technology is making it easier to steal the creative work of artists without the risk of sneaking out of a store. Taking the songs that are on that $15 CD by downloading them illegally or copying them from a friend's CD is essentially the same thing as shoplifting-but too many kids, and adults, too, think that's OK.
Hey, it's NOT okay. Either way, it's ripping off whoever created and performed those songs. Steal them from the store and you're taking a few cents worth of plastic plus the real value of the CD-the songs that are recorded on it. Download music on a computer illegally and you're absconding with the same real value - the songs. It's still dead wrong.
Sure, sometimes the artists or the recording company that pays them will give away some CDs as a promotion. But that's their choice, not yours. Nobody authorized you to simply take a song or a CD, whether electronically or off the rack. Plenty of legitimate downloads are available now, and they're inexpensive.
Our band doesn't think kids really intend to be thieves. We think they just don't know what copyright law is all about.
So we and many other artists, plus thousands of teachers as well as other professional organizations, are actively joining in support of Copyright Awareness Week.
Songwriters Deborah Allen, Gavin DeGraw, John Legend, Mary Mary, Martina McBride, Paul Overstreet, Leslie Satcher, Sir Mix-A-Lot, the Ying Yang Twins and my rock band-3 Doors Down-have recorded a series of public service announcements that will air on radio stations throughout the nation during the week.
We're working to help people understand that copyright law protects entertainers and songwriters, movie producers and authors, and all kinds of other talented folks who make a living by selling their creative ideas. Copyright law protects them by making it illegal to copy creative work without the appropriate permission.
But copyright law doesn't just protect the name bands that you hear on the radio all the time. It also protects your own band that's just getting started in your basement. If you write a really good song and start to get some attention performing it at your school dance or a local teen club, it's YOUR song.
3 Doors Down can't come along and hear it and say, "Hey, that's a terrific song, let's do it at our next big show." We have to ask your permission to use your song and give you credit that you are the owners and creators.
Maybe you say "No, but can we open your show for you when you're performing in town next month," and we'd say, "Hey cool." That's how you get a break-a break made possible by the copyright law that you should honor whether you're the performer or the listener.
Chris Henderson is guitarist for 3 Doors Down, a rock band that has reached number one on both singles and album charts.
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