Do you remember waking up to see Onsmash taken down by government? I do, and vividly. I was shocked, I was beyond upset, and I was also a little worried. I mean, we post a lot of music, a lot of videos, and a lot of content. We try to make sure that most of what we post comes with explicit permission from artists and labels. We don’t leak any music given to us without permission, and we don’t seek out music or albums to give away for free, just for hits or for the fuck of it. The thought that we could be shut down for posting the music and videos that we love, for providing our readers with content that they crave, and for working with artists and labels in promoting their art is a scary thing. Yet it is a real possibility if the SOPA and PIPA Acts are passed. You may have heard of these things. You may not have. Either way, they are real. They are coming to a vote in Congress, and frankly, this is not the way to battle online piracy or copyright infringement. Yes, there needs to be something done to curb the illegal distribution of music, movies, and art, but not this.
A strong collection of artists, directors, producers, authors all came together to pen an open letter to Congress. Their letter states they are against the proposed legislation, and that it would do more harm to their livelihood than good. The letter is printed below in its entirety.
Should you want more info on SOPA and to join the fight against it, please visit AmericanCensorship.org.
An open letter to Washington from Artists and Creators
We, the undersigned, are musicians, actors, directors, authors, and producers. We make our livelihoods with the artistic works we create. We are also Internet users.
We are writing to express our serious concerns regarding the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA).
As creative professionals, we experience copyright infringement on a very personal level. Commercial piracy is deeply unfair and pervasive leaks of unreleased films and music regularly interfere with the integrity of our creations. We are grateful for the measures policymakers have enacted to protect our works.
We, along with the rest of society, have benefited immensely from a free and open Internet. It allows us to connect with our fans and reach new audiences. Using social media services like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, we can communicate directly with millions of fans and interact with them in ways that would have been unimaginable just a few years ago.
We fear that the broad new enforcement powers provided under SOPA and PIPA could be easily abused against legitimate services like those upon which we depend. These bills would allow entire websites to be blocked without due process, causing collateral damage to the legitimate users of the same services — artists and creators like us who would be censored as a result.
We are deeply concerned that PIPA and SOPA’s impact on piracy will be negligible compared to the potential damage that would be caused to legitimate Internet services. Online piracy is harmful and it needs to be addressed, but not at the expense of censoring creativity, stifling innovation or preventing the creation of new, lawful digital distribution methods.
We urge Congress to exercise extreme caution and ensure that the free and open Internet, upon which so many artists rely to promote and distribute their work, does not become collateral damage in the process.
Respectfully,
- Aziz Ansari
- Kevin Devine, Musician
- Barry Eisler, Author
- Neil Gaiman, Author
- Lloyd Kaufman, Filmmaker
- Zoë Keating, Musician
- The Lonely Island
- Daniel Lorca, Musician (Nada Surf)
- Erin McKeown, Musician
- MGMT
- Samantha Murphy, Musician
- OK Go
- Amanda Palmer, Musician (The Dresden Dolls)
- Quiet Company
- Trent Reznor
- Adam Savage, Special Effects Artist (MythBusters)
- Hank Shocklee, Music Producer (Public Enemy, The Bomb Squad)
- Johnny Stimson, Musician
PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.