***Scroll down for updates. I’m breaking the law!***
SeeqPod is a cool site.
It’s the Google of music search. Type in a song, no matter how obscure, and the engine searches servers all over the globe and kicks out links to where you can find the song. You can play the song right there at SeeqPod and add it to a playlist, or follow the links and download the MP3.
Sometimes (oftentimes? most of the time?), the links lead to illegal downloads. Not cool, but SeeqPod shouldn’t be held responsible for that, right? After all, Google searches turn up copyrighted works all the time, yet Google isn’t held responsible for including copyrighted works in the search results.
Major music label Warner Music doesn’t agree. It’s suing SeeqPod to the tune of $150,000 per illegally downloaded song. Download (legally) the 57-page lawsuit (courtesy of the Electronic Freedom Foundation) in PDF.
The gist is that Warner Music accuses SeeqPod of infringing copyright and profiting from that infringement and continuing the cycle of infringement by allowing users to embed links on social networking sites. SeeqPod says it is legally protected through the “safe harbor” provision of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which allows companies to link to, but not host, copyrighted materials.
I’ve discovered during my short time reading about the digital tech side of music that there’s something particularly voracious about the music industry. It seeks to do the impossible: eliminate any and all illegal downloading, and wring every cent from a song. By suing SeeqPod, Warner is trying to squash the search. Can’t be done, and, if you can deal with this, shouldn’t be done. There’s a better way.
You don’t have to be a lawyer or tech geek or online consultant to know this is the wrong way to go. Warner Music and all the other behemoths should stop fighting digital downloading, legal or otherwise, and find a way to monetize users’ behavior. (I hate the word “monetize,” but it’s the best way to express the idea.)
It’s a fact of life that people will download music without paying for it. Instead of suing fans and search engines, work with the search engine company to get a cut of the advertising revenue. In other words, find a way, other than suing companies and fans, to recoup some or most of the costs of “illegal” downloads.
You know how Google works, right? All sorts of people make money from Google, not from search results but from the monetization (cringe) of the search. That’s the way AdWords works. Search results come up, along with advertisements related to those searches. Users click on the ads, which generates revenue for the person or company displaying the ad. And the person or company that placed the ad makes money when a user buys the product.
Why waste money trying to impede the search when you can make money from the search? Why try to crush start-ups like SeeqPod and go through protracted legal proceedings, when you can find ways to adapt to the digital world and make money in the process?
But what am I saying all this for? Warner Music knows all about monetization. It sealed licensing deals with music site Imeem and Google’s video site YouTube. Did it try to work out a deal with SeeqPod before suing?
Strange, indeed. My politics may be extremely conservative (as it should be), but I’m totally progressive when it comes to embracing and adapting anything that makes finding and discovering good music (or good books, good movies) simple. Don’t squash the search!
For more coverage, see Google news.
Update: I wanted to demonstrate how SeeqPod works. I searched for one of my favorite Prince songs, “Dolphin,” and embedded the code below. Those drums, man. Click the arrow and enjoy!
By the way, I’m always searching for new music. Let’s help each other. Send me your recommendations, and check this blog and my MySpace page for my recommendations. I load some of them in the embedded music player on the left under the profile at MySpace.
Sort-of-related:
- Stop, Thief! Before You Rip That CD…
- Review of Net, Blogs and Rock ‘n’ Roll: How Digital Discovery Works and What it Means for Consumers, Creators and Culture
