Lily Allen, Radiohead on opposite sides of heated British file-sharing debate

A file-sharing debate in England that could have wide-ranging effects on how music is distributed via the Internet is getting heated. Lines are being drawn between artists, with pop singer Lily Allen taking to the Internet to question the stance of the Featured Artists Coalition, a not-for-profit lobbying group that aims to educate and protect the rights of artists.

Allen had expressed support for proposed legislation backed by Lord Peter Mandelson, which could ultimately suspend users' Internet accounts if they were deemed to have engaged in illegal downloading. The FAC, which counts Pink Floyd's Nick Mason, Billy Bragg, Annie Lennox and Radiohead among its members, released a statement today that said talks with record labels to reach a compromise had broken down.

"We have negotiated in good faith with the labels all week, but they remain wedded to the idea of suspension of accounts," the coalition said in a statement. "We remain steadfast in our belief that making threats against individual music fans is not an effective way to resolve any problems associated with file-sharing. So while we will willingly collaborate together on many levels of our business, in respect of this particular issue, we have agreed to disagree."

Allen, meanwhile, is rallying in support of the government. In a post on her recently launched blog It's Not Alright, she notes today that she is not looking for a fight with the FAC, yet still questions the group's argument. Writes Allen: "The FAC seems to be viewing the government’s proposed legislation as an attack on freedom and liberty, but stealing’s not really a human right, is it?"

She continues, "What the government is proposing is the temporary suspension of the Internet accounts of people that are repeatedly downloading loads of music through unlawful P2P file-sharing -- as a last resort after they’ve been sent warnings."

England is not the only country to be debating such a proposal. France appears closer to passing a "three-strikes" law. The latest draft of the French legislation would fine offenders up to 300,000 euros ($441,000) if they continued to download content after an e-mail warning and a registered letter, according to the Wall Street Journal. 

The proposed French law, however, is significantly scaled down from what was originally presented. Initially, it was argued that repeat offenders should have their Internet connections cut off for a year. It was rejected, and the Journal writes that the latest copy of the law would ask a judge to decide on whether Web access should be terminated for any period of time. 

The FAC argues that artists, in addition to fans, would be hurt by the legislation, which it says would "reduce the civil liberties of every one of us in the country in order to afford a disincentive threat to a small minority of ‘egregious offenders.’ "

"The focus of our objection is the proposed treatment of ordinary music fans who download a few tracks so as to check out our material before they buy," The FAC continues. "For those of us who don’t get played on the radio or mentioned in the music media -- artists established and emerging -- peer-to-peer recommendation is an important form of promotion."

Allen, an artist who reached global fame by promoting her music on MySpace, counters that, "Artists should be in charge of how their music is distributed -- not some file-sharer who decides they deserve everything for free, just because they know how to steal it."

Allen's blog has statements of support from James Blunt and Matt Bellamy of Muse, as well as e-mailed comments she's received from the likes of Bat for Lashes' Natasha Khan. "I am actually in the middle of researching both the points you've mentioned in your e-mail," an e-mail Allen posted from Khan reads. "Regardless, [I] agree that file sharing is a huge and complicated problem for emerging artists, myself included, and for the future of music."

A story in the London Times writes that many in the British music industry now believe the differing opinions between major artists will ultimately derail any proposed legislation.

-- Todd Martens

Photo: Lily Allen. Credit: Getty Images

Comments

[Jordan Catalano]

Doesn't anyone remember "Home taping is killing music?"

As long as technology allows people to do things like burn CD-quality music from the internet for free, there's simply no stopping it.

Sure, Allen has a point--massive bands like Radiohead have a distinct advantage in this dept, as free downloads turn into a kind of "loss leader" that pulls people into shows, purchasing merch, etc.

But for "emerging" artists like Allen to try and curtail such file-sharing is just short-sighted and uninformed. Until the music industry can regain control of their product, the toothpaste is out of the tube.

Instead of Lily Allen (whose music is mediocre at best), I'm far more interested in the pro-active solutions of artists like Amanda Palmer, who are using modern technology to her distinct advantage. Instead of bitching about something she can't control, she goes on the road, stays in touch with her fans directly via Twitter and enjoys profitable and packed shows along the way.

In short, you don't have to be Thom Yorke or Trent Reznor to benefit from technological advancements. You do, however, need to be smart, have a positive, can-do attitude and refuse to rely on some outmoded record label to do your dirty work for you while you collect checks for being so bloody brilliant. Those days are long gone, and good riddance. I mean, after being screwed by the music industry for so long, music fans are reveling in the ability to strike back. They dug their own grave, and the fans are gleefully shoveling dirt on the casket.

Unfortunately, it's the artists caught in the crossfire.

[Interesting enough]

File-sharing would not be a problem if major corporate interests didn't want it to be a problem. The legislation should be in the form of a compulsory license for music on the net and a levy on ISPs. This whole debate has gone on long enough. There was so much thrown around over the past couple years it's becoming a real joke. Media, the public, everybody should push for a proper solution. The music industry can't agree on anything and leting the government and the big corporate haunchos sort it out is also not a solution. http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/compulsary_worldwide_digital_mus/index.html

[Jerith]

The odd thing is that Lily herself has recently plagiarized others work in the form of copying word for word with no acknowledgment or credit given to the owner and writer of text that was recently posted into her blog “It’s Not Alright”. She directly lifted work that was created by Mike Masnick, of Techdirt.com without any credit due to him.

She is a blaring example of a hypocrite. What she says, and what she does are two different things.

[Michael]

Radiohead understands the need to keep government out of what Lily Allen says is not alright. Radiohead is a group of artists the understand art and what art means. Lily Allen hasn't created any and what she has done at this point will be entirely forgotten in a few years from now. Lily Allen who? This is really just an issue of greed. Lily Allen and the like would have not made it to our ears without big corporations pushing her trash into the mainstream. If you remember the famous orange experiment then you would better understand Lily Allen's appeal. I remember Napster in the early days and it seemed to inspire the musical appetite of so many who had suddenly discovered an infinite universe of music and influenced many of them to get out and buy it. Napster didn't destroy music but it did get hundeds of thousands of artists exposure. Napster revolutionized the digital downloading of music. Ahhhhh! What would we do without it??

[TheNorthern3rd]

Music file sharing? ... thats not the debate we should be having ... Ownership vs Access is the one we need to have ... I do not need to own any recordings ... I can access (stream) anything I need for free (via Spotify, Youtube, Last FM etc) ... If I need to transfer it to an iPod, I can capture it in real time using Wire Tape Studio ... Thats legal ... Music file sharing is a thing of the past ... Hell, I share playlists on Spotify all the time ... Its legal, and encouraged by Spotify ... If I like a band I hear, I'll go see'm live ... then they'll get my investment ... I personally think the record industry is over ... I'll still make records for as long as I can, but they'll just be "promo" for my band. Not a reliable income stream. C'mon the REVOLUTION!

[Jordan Catalano]

1. The comment made by "The Northern 3rd" pwns us all. The truth of the matter is that this argument is pretty much moot. The toothpaste is not only out of the tube, it no longer even requires the tube. All of this music is just out there to be sampled/enjoyed/whatever at will, and that's just that.

2. Lily Allen is a double-hypocrite. Not only did she steal her anti-piracy rant from Techdirt.com, there are two of her "mixtapes" (still available for FREE on her website) that offer up all kinds of copyrighted material from such artists as St. Etienne, Jay-Z, 808 State, Sia and the Kinks, among many others.

[Brad Bowman]

Starting bands can use free downloads as a marketing tool but the problem of theft will never go away. It is crime that has been around before civilization took hold. Technology needs to advance in ways that allow downloads but not uploads. The incentive to pay needs to be because of perks. Radiohead offered rough mixes for free but the finished product was sought after from this exposure. It just cant be free. Blanket license sites don't suffice as revenue for artists that need it or be recouped by an industries investment. Here is my take on what needs to be donehttp://bradsbanterrant.blogspot.com/

[Davida]

Lily Allen should be more worried about her ignorant verbosity affecting her popularity than file sharing affecting her bank account. Besides, her music is garbage. If she was as good as Radiohead, she would be about as concerned about loosing money as they are.