Musicians United, a Virginia-based non-profit organization advocating the rights of online music artists, has launched an initiative to protect the Fair Use rights of consumers and artists to open digital music formats. The group is trying to defend MP3, the people’s audio compression technology, against a record industry that would replace it with the copyright- protected Secure Digital Music Initiative (SDMI). Musicians United says SDMI is driven by the five largest record companies and that it will have a chilling effect on the independent music scene.
The group warns musicians to brace themselves to pay high fees before they are allowed to create SDMI-compliant files. Those fees could prevent independent artists from distributing their work in SDMI formats. If manufacturers stop supporting MP3 in digital playback devices, the five biggest record labels will re- establish their hegemony over music production and distribution. To prevent that, Musicians United calls on vendors to respect the public’s right to Fair Use by pledging to support open audio formats now and in the future. This in no way encumbers the ability of SDMI supporters to distribute copy-protected music, the group hastens to add. รก
