Roomie on copyright.

Hi ladies and gentlemen, I have a very special treat for you today. I managed to get an interview with one of YouTube's biggest musicians, Roomie. He shared his opinion on SOPA and Copyright laws. The interview is below, enjoy.

LongThumb: Hi Joel thanks for taking the time to let me interview you.
Joel: No problem!

LongThumb: So as you may or may not know, the internet has been up uproar over the recent US bill, SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act), which aims to drastically cut piracy, is piracy something that affects you as a musician?
Joel: I believe it does, to some degree. As an internet-based independent musician, my income comes mainly from digital sales (iTunes, Amazon mp3 etc). When people choose to download my music without paying I get less funds to invest in making new stuff.

LongThumb: Under SOPA you could easily shut down a site hosting your music for free download, do you think that it's right if the site is something like Megaupload was, and doesn't know it's hosting it?
Joel: No, I don't. Enforcing that sort of policy would result in the death of all sites featuring user-created content - a censored internet, as many have pointed out. Steps should be taken against piracy, but this bill will damage the internet as a whole.

LongThumb: Also under SOPA it would become a crime for someone to remix a song and post it on YouTube, do you think this is fair, even if they give credit or state that it isn't their original work?
Joel: That is a sticky situation - the problem is that the system for getting permission for that kind of thing is so unsmooth. You have to contact the publisher directly and get explicit permission to use the material, perhaps even sign contracts. The corporate policy on YouTube music covers, which I have worked a lot with, differs between different labels though. Most labels let the covers be if they are sufficiently close to the original in terms of melody/lyrics/arrangement. It must be pointed out that the labels have the opportunity to take down individual videos from legitimate sites such as YouTube already, they just have to file a complaint.

LongThumb: Did you do anything to protest SOPA or are you planning to do anything?
Joel: I expressed my sympathy for Wikipedia's protest on Roomie's social media pages. I might do more if the situation gets worse.

LongThumb: Are you for or against SOPA, and why?
Joel: I do believe small changes are needed to control criminal activity on the internet, just like we have laws and police to keep things in control in real life. The SOPA bill is, however, the equivalent of allowing corporations, not the police, to destroy a whole apartment building because a criminal lives there.

LongThumb: Many people think that laws made for the internet should be decided by the internet and not just a handful of politicians, do you agree?
Joel: I do believe some kind of democratic voting should be in order, at least. But I don't think it would be smart to keep the political experts out of the planning, we should use all experience we have to avoid repeating old mistakes.

LongThumb: If SOPA passed you could be punished by an American Law even though you're Swedish, do you think that's fair?
Joel: Really? I didn't know that. Well, it sounds unfair, of course.

LongThumb: Now I'm a big fan of your music, especially your cover songs. Is it hard to get permission to cover these songs? Do you think it could be made easier?
Joel: Releasing cover songs on iTunes etc is pretty easy. However, clearing the synchronization rights (for YouTube etc) could be made a whole lot easier - you need to be in direct contact with the publisher and/or songwriters to be sure your video doesn't get taken down. So a licensing system such as the one for just releasing the audio recordings would be helpful.

LongThumb: Do you find yourself tiptoeing around certain things when making music to help avoid any copyright infringements?
Joel: Yes, definitely. I feel like it limits my creativity when I have to think about keeping the record companies happy. But hey, it's their songs. It's always a lot more fun to make covers of other internet bands music (Like Schmoyoho) or original music, because then I'm not afraid to be creative.

LongThumb: Do you have a massive legal team behind you to make sure you're not sued?
Joel: Hahaha no. But I do have a lawyer who help me out, checking agreements etc before I sign anything. There are a lot of companies looking to make money on youtube musicians right now, so I have to make sure I don't get fooled.

LongThumb: Are you worried about the use of images or clips in your music videos, as some may be copyrighted?
Joel: Yes, and I try to use as few copyrighted images/video clips as possible. However, I sometimes make the judgement that they will probably not have any problem with me using this. I'd be worried if I for example used footage from mainstream music videos etc, that kind of thing can get you in trouble.

LongThumb: Is there anything you would change in current copyright laws?
Joel: As I mentioned before, I think the whole procedure around synchronization rights is outdated. I would also like to see the concept of fair use get more defined and perhaps even expanded.

LongThumb: Well that should be about it, thank you for taking time to talk to me, is there anything you want to add?
Joel: If you've got the time, please check out my YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/RoomieOfficial . I upload a lot of videos C:

LongThumb: Thanks again, I hope I get the chance to interview you again.
Joel: Thanks!

There you have it, Roomie's view on copyright.
I would just like to thank Joel for taking the time out of his busy schedule to do this for me, I highly suggest you listen to his music over on YouTube and buy his songs from iTunes.
And in return I'm hoping Joel will publicize my blog a little C:

Till tomorrow, have a good night/day/hanukkah.

Also I know SOPA is now dead, but it's too late now.