I oppose SOPA, but have to object to your attack of people asking for their songs to not be used in YouTube videos. People who write songs have an absolute right to control their public use. Nobody have a “right” to other people’s property.
And the YouTube system, as it is, isn’t a bad way to handle it. Pretty much anybody can post anything, although YouTube does go after some things aggressively, mostly it takes down things only with objection. If I write a song, I can ask to have others not use it. That is how it should be.
THe problem with YouTube is straight-up censorship.
It’s the modern lack of ethics, people who think they have a right to free downloads of songs and movies, that gives teh government an excuse for SOPA. If people would behave, if they would be civil, and not be stealing intellectual property and acting like it’s their right, we wouldn’t be fighting SOPA now.
Do the musicians really own the songs? Or is it the music companies?
That said, the big music companies, or at least some of them, are fools. Most YouTube posters of music are fans trying to promote music they like. And much of the material is that which you are not going to generally find on the airwaves, in the CD racks @ Wal-Mart, etc. I’ve seen great stuff taken down, and then who knows it exists? Certainly not any potential new fans / customers.
Even if a tune is popular, YouTube postings can help promote it. Further, YouTube’s audio and video quality is quite limited. Posters should be encouraged to opine on why viewers should buy the CD or DVD, audio and video quality being a good reason; supporting the artist another.
I have inquiries on YouTube right now, asking if posted tunes / vids are available on CD / DVD, and am tracking such inquiries by others, too. In other cases I’ve encouraged viewers to “get that DVD” or posted “you should hear this CD on a good stereo system!” And I’m not even the poster.
Do some people make compilations of YouTube vids? Maybe so, but it’s probably a losing money / time proposition, unless either the material is not available elsewhere, OR they are mass copying and distributing it, which is another matter entirely. And, as I said, either way the quality stinks.