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Thanks to Google Alert, I've noticed my complete CD as a download just showed up on some sites in people's blogs, with a link to a download of a .RAR file for the CD.

While I encourage free advertising by individual tracks of poor quality such as on MySpace, giving away a whole CD like this is illegal.

I won't cite the file sharing services that are doing this (PM me if you want to know), but has anyone had success shutting this down, and have advice whether pursuing it is going to be worth the effort? Thanks.


BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Slate VSX, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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I PM'd ya

Notification of Claimed Copyright Infringement
(Digital Millennium Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. § 512.)


Send one, seems to work well. Also send to the site hosting the blog

It has worked for me and can serve as legal notice if it escalates.
To make it easy I put it here-
http://audiomastering-online.com/Testing/DMCA_original.doc


I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome
Make your sound your own!
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Matt,
I did a quick search and found a Spanish site with your album, it appears to be mp3 at 192k.

I've given up on the 'file sharing' stuff, and use a pay service (Napster) for my music. I'm not sure if you get anything from that or not, royalties wise, but it works for me, and it's legal.

I hope whomever is doing this, you're able to shut them down.

Gary


I'm blessed watching God do what He does best. I've had a few rough years, and I'm still not back to where I want to be, but I'm on the way and things are looking far better now than what they were!
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Thank you Bob. I see the link now - great!

Thank you Gary. Yes, there are many legit sources for my CD. Yes, I do get payments from Napster. Napster and iTunes are the two main sources for my online sales, especially in Europe.

When I try to visit some of the file-sharing links, my browser often complains it is an 'attack' site, so it's hard to research further.


BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Slate VSX, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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If they don’t stop I hope you can prosecute them to the fullest.

I hate pirates!


My boss calls me "the computer".
Nothing to do with intelligence. I go to sleep if left unattended for 15 minutes.

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Aarrr..

Matt, I emailed a two part thing we use. The notice linked to above is the basic notice and has worked on it's own more than once.


I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome
Make your sound your own!
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Got the email docs. Many thanks, Bob!


BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Slate VSX, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Quote:


When I try to visit some of the file-sharing links, my browser often complains it is an 'attack' site, so it's hard to research further.




Sounds like a job for a Linux Live CD. Download an ISO, burn it, load it, and go after the rascals without worrying about attacks or damage to your PC.


JBlatz
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I run Linux what do you need?


John
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www.wintertexaninfo.com/BANDS/JohnnyD.php
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Linux. Interesting idea, thanks, guys.


BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Slate VSX, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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websearch "linux live CD" Matt.

It will boot and run from the CD drive and you can leave your machine as-is.


--Mac

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That's what I figured they meant. Really smart idea - you can go anywhere in relative safety. Thanks for the specific reference, Mac!


BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Slate VSX, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Knoppix has worked well here for Live CD in winders

Thing to remember is that whatever version of (example) Firefox is on the CD is what you'll be running, so look for a recent release and use private browsing. Or whatever you can do to stay safe.


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Make your sound your own!
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You can download Ubuntu The version is Karmic Koala 9.1
Make a bootable CD and use the try version. You'll be using Firefox 3.5. It is not the latest version but it is the latest version determined to be secure. With Linux you don't DL willyNilly like windows. You get stuff from secure & tested repositories. Be forewarned that you might not be able to get on the internet "out of the box". If you need me to research a site for you or submit anything just shout.


John
ESI Gigaport HD+
Lenovo Turion II /4 Gig Ram/ Win7x64 be
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"The only Band is a Real Band"
www.wintertexaninfo.com/BANDS/JohnnyD.php
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Update:

Earlier, I found and downloaded Xubuntu Live CD, which is very helpful for safe surfing. Thanks again for this idea.

I am alerting companies and getting the illegal file-sharing copies blown away, one by one. It may take awhile, because some host companies are very responsive and others are not. So far, I have located 38 hosts, although the main culprit is one site that many of the others link to.

Appreciate the assistance and advice here. The best thing is that no one here posted that all music should always be free to all listeners. I know they are out there.




BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Slate VSX, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Okay Matt,
I'll say it then.

Music SHOULD be free to all listeners. Truly. Read the thread about how good music is for you, even just listening to it.

To support my feelings, I suggest that you turn on any radio station playing the music of your choice. Listen away. Is that music *truly* 'free?' Of course not. Royalties are paid to musicians, and advertising pays to pay the royalties.

Try Pandora. By the way, you aren't listed on Pandora, you ought to fix that.

However, if you want to to listen to a specific song, or a specific artist, there are various other ways, including buying the CD, downloading .mp3 tracks from authorized distributors, or paying for a service, such as Napster or iTunes. All of those involve money, but TANSTAAFL (There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch). Was I one of those people who used certain peer to peer networks to download, and steal music? Yes I was. Not any more. With the deal I get from Napster, it isn't worth my time, I have over 5,000,000 songs I can download and play, and paying a measley $15 a month to continue that indefinitely is worth it to me. At my age, with my hearing, .wma is good enough.

When I want the best, I buy a CD, just like I've bought from you and Bob Roeteker, and several hundred others.

However, 'MUSIC' should be free to all listeners, and that includes making it yourself.

Now that I've had that say, I'll ask you this. Do you know how the Napster or iTunes, or Rhapsody thing works as far as you getting some amount of money from them? I know they can't compensate you for every track of yours that I listen to, but you must get something.

Gary


I'm blessed watching God do what He does best. I've had a few rough years, and I'm still not back to where I want to be, but I'm on the way and things are looking far better now than what they were!
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Hi Gary. We're not in disagreement here at all. The world needs 'music' of all kinds, all the time. I have freely shared my music on your site. I also deeply appreciate that you bought my CD and continue to recommend it.

My comment was meant to be taken only in the context of my posts in this thread, that someone has taken my CD which is for sale and made it possible to download it for free. Stealing in this way is illegal, and I appreciate the help in stopping that.

It's very likely even a musician such as yourself might not know about the current payment model for music unless you are directly involved in it, so I appreciate your asking. While I don't claim to know or understand everything that is out there, Yes, I do get paid when people download or listen to my music on Napster and iTunes (and Amazon and about 40 other legit places at the moment). Your Napster example is perhaps the best known of an illegal file sharing service changing its model to a legitimate one. I also get paid when my tracks are played on the cable TV music channels, or even get used as music on hold during a phone call to a support line at a major company. It takes months for the accounting to work, and It's only a small amount each time (more for sales, less for streaming), but small amounts add up. It also takes a lot of work to get on some of these sites, and Pandora is a great site but it does not accept everyone. I need to get working on that one, thanks. I am on similar sites, like Last.FM.

Since there does exist a model that allows artists to be paid, and the price people have to pay for commercial music has become modest, I believe a few people who steal and encourage others to steal should not be allowed to take away the livelihood of an artist and discourage them from continuing to make more music, and make a living by doing so.

Like you, I'm a big-time buyer of music. If you can figure out a better method to subsidize artists (like Lorenzo diMedici did) who could then share all their music for free, then we would all be happier.


BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Slate VSX, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Hey Gary,

What would you then think of this line?

"Electronics technicians' skills should be free to all employers."


Just sayin'...



--Mac

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I believe what Gary meant was that the creators and providers of music should be paid for their efforts, but listening should be free, which, fundamentally, it is. A radio is pretty cheap, and with that device we can listen to countless hours of music for the price of the receiver and the electricity.

The problem is the digital revolution, and how very easy that makes copying and redistributing anything that can be captured digitally. The DRM always seems to run behind the technology, and it seems really impossible to control the pirating of digital assets in our age. Some folks are contending that any attempt to prevent the pirating of digital creations is just fruitless, as the hackers always seem to be able to crack any security method in a manner of minutes.

There is far, far more music out there that I really like than I can ever listen to. I listen to a great deal without ever stealing any, by way of podcasts. If I hear an artist on a particular podcast, and greatly enjoy the music, then I will purchase the CD version, usually from CD Baby, Amazon, or some other online store. That way I have a much higher fidelity version of the tunes to enjoy.

It appears that the 'hard copy' version of music is on the decline, and probably will be for the future. Somehow artists will have to adapt to that, and it won't be easy or painless.


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Let me clarify,
Matt had posted this:

Quote:

The best thing is that no one here posted that all music should always be free to all listeners. I know they are out there.




I was being semi-silly when I replied to that the way I did. Musicians work as hard, and sometimes often harder, then a lot of people do. They produce a product which is in essence no different than a farmer produces. Some people think food should be free, too. When we look at, and see 'musician', often times the general public will imagine the rock band du jour on the stage, they screaming crowds, the the black limos. "Oh, what a great life they have, all they have to do is play music, and make lots of money. What does it really matter if I download their tracks, they're rich and I'm not." The truth of the matter is that only applies to a minuscule portion of working musicians.

So, yes, musicians should be paid for their work, and the way we do it now, in form of Royalties, seems to work, and everyone is happy.

For a while, I thought, 'Does it really matter if I download this music' but the more time I spent on this forum, and the more working musicians that I found who have produced product, the more my answer was 'Yeah, it really does matter.'

Gary


I'm blessed watching God do what He does best. I've had a few rough years, and I'm still not back to where I want to be, but I'm on the way and things are looking far better now than what they were!
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