Uploaded June 2015 | Updated September 2026, 8 hours ago
Just yesterday noted NYC guitarist Marc Ribot published an angry open letter to Steve Albini as a reaction to Albini's comments on the copyright construct being obsolete when it comes to music and intellectual property rights tied to music. I could not help but share some of my random thoughts on this issue and more.
** At this particular time we find ourselves in a financial pinch due to many factors. We want to keep AP going. It has been a passion project since 2009 years. PLEASE consider donating, we could really use the support. Thanks so much!
gofundme.com/f/keep-american-pancake-music-blog-alive-amp-well?
Marc Ribot's open letter (facebook.com/ContentCreatorsCoalition):
I’m writing as a recording artist, musician, and activist with c3, the Content Creators Coalition, a working-artist-run organization dedicated to economic justice in the digital domain.
In a recent Billboard article, you referred to copyright as an “expired concept”.
You further stated that:
“… the intellectual construct of copyright and intellectual property ownership is not realistic…That old copyright model of the person who wrote something down owns it and anyone else who wants to use it or see it has to pay him, I think that model has expired.”
If you truly believe that “Ideas, once expressed, become part of the common mentality. And music, once expressed, becomes part of the common environment…”, are you willing to sign a Creative Commons license placing your entire catalogue in the public domain?
Or are you just another lousy hypocrite shilling for Google and other huge tech corporations who have made billions in ad-based profits while using our work, often without paying us or asking our permission, as click bait to increase their advertising rates?
Working artists and musicians, at least those of us who can’t afford to make another record unless the last one paid its production costs, await your response.
Sincerely, Marc Ribot
Billboard Magazine link: Copyright Has Expired (Steve Albini's thoughts)
billboard.com/articles/columns/music-festivals/6582997/steve-albini-copyright-has-expired
Just yesterday noted NYC guitarist Marc Ribot published an angry open letter to Steve Albini as a reaction to Albini's comments on the copyright construct being obsolete when it comes to music and intellectual property rights tied to music. I could not help but share some of my random thoughts on this issue and more.
** At this particular time we find ourselves in a financial pinch due to many factors. We want to keep AP going. It has been a passion project since 2009 years. PLEASE consider donating, we could really use the support. Thanks so much!
gofundme.com/f/keep-american-pancake-music-blog-alive-amp-well?
Marc Ribot's open letter (facebook.com/ContentCreatorsCoalition):
I’m writing as a recording artist, musician, and activist with c3, the Content Creators Coalition, a working-artist-run organization dedicated to economic justice in the digital domain.
In a recent Billboard article, you referred to copyright as an “expired concept”.
You further stated that:
“… the intellectual construct of copyright and intellectual property ownership is not realistic…That old copyright model of the person who wrote something down owns it and anyone else who wants to use it or see it has to pay him, I think that model has expired.”
If you truly believe that “Ideas, once expressed, become part of the common mentality. And music, once expressed, becomes part of the common environment…”, are you willing to sign a Creative Commons license placing your entire catalogue in the public domain?
Or are you just another lousy hypocrite shilling for Google and other huge tech corporations who have made billions in ad-based profits while using our work, often without paying us or asking our permission, as click bait to increase their advertising rates?
Working artists and musicians, at least those of us who can’t afford to make another record unless the last one paid its production costs, await your response.
Sincerely, Marc Ribot
Billboard Magazine link: Copyright Has Expired (Steve Albini's thoughts)
billboard.com/articles/columns/music-festivals/6582997/steve-albini-copyright-has-expired
