Fair Play for Creators

I am delighted as a Singer/Songwriter and Composer that your efforts in attempting to combat Corporate moguls like Google (whoever they are) are incredibly worthy. In my humble opinion they are the faceless people who now control the World. So this whole contemporary issue raises two interesting problems. The first one being that intellectual property is no longer sacrosanct, this is both a very sad and very serious prospect for the cultural impoverishment of the whole human race. I would like to lend and add my support as a named artist in all respects of your future endeavours on behalf of us all.

I agree wholeheartedly with the aim of this pledge.

I support because I’m a musician who has not received my rightful dues for the amount of work I’ve done… so if this would improve my situation I would appreciate that. Also General Levy music is all over YouTube so it would be good to get paid for that. Thanks.

A prevalent argument by businesses that base their business model on using music without compensating the creators who provided the content is: ‘It’s promoting the music’. This argument has been used by MTV for decades and is now used by sites such as YouTube - as if Google/YouTube, out of the kindness of their hearts, are operating a charity for artists and songwriters. YouTube is a streaming service. People don’t need to own a recording anymore - they can still listen to it as much as they like, when they like on sites like YouTube. Songwriters who have spent years on unpaid labour to create the music can’t survive if they give away their future to promote the past. Music is not an advertisement for anything. Music is the actual product. Google is not a charity – it’s a corporation that needs to satisfy its shareholders, and in doing so they’re now bullying the people that provide the content that they rely upon.

If musicians/writers cannot make a living from their work, those who want to pay little or nothing will end up with nothing new to listen to. Don't kill the Golden Goose.

If people don't pay something for the music they listen to, they are saying it doesn't have any value. They are saying it is worthless. I don't think it is.

This is just to lend my support to Fair Play for Creators.

If any organisation does not pay due royalties to music and song creators when using their material, then surely they are effectively stealing the copyright material of the creators.

It’s about time...

I am definitely concerned at the companies who feel that an artist has less rights than anyone else who is paid for a service or job - especially one well done and loved all over the world.

I believe that the creators of art are entitled to receive due payment for the subsequent use and distribution of their art.

If people continue to exploit creators of good music there will no longer be any good new music to exploit.

Don't be greedy Google.

Thank you for the work you do in support of Creators! x

Any campaign which promotes composers, lyricists, musicians and the like as professional persons and helps those not connected with the business to understand that music has to be paid for deserves total support.

Artists should be paid more as they are among the primary drivers of traffic to YouTube. Take away the music videos labels and artists upload and YouTube would get nowhere near the amount of traffic they do.

I am not a professional writer or composer but writing and performing music is a great love of mine so I aspire to be involved in it in the future. I love listening to and accessing music but was unaware of the situation for the people who wrote or produced the songs, therefore out of respect I support the Fair Play For Creators Campaign.

Fair play for creators .... and for consumers

The internet seems to have let a giant 'genie' out of its bottle! I'm not sure how we can reliably 'tame' it, but certainly feel that something needs to be done to protect the artists. There have been several cases of artists voluntarily 'giving away' their music however, mostly in an attempt to generate publicity. I guess that is their prerogative, but slightly worrying that they need to use such desperate tactics!

As one of the UK's leading popular music training providers, it is important that we stand to protect the interests of future generations of musicians against exploitation by non-music profit-making businesses.

I wholeheartedly support this campaign for Fair Play for Creators. Royalties are simply 'deferred wages' for us creators, and any attempt to run roughshod over our intellectual property is tantamount to theft and should be treated accordingly by law. Not to mention the moral responsibility to apportion credit where credit's due - the originators, not the aggregators.

Google has built a multibillion dollar global brand. Over 80% of YouTube’s most viewed content is commercially produced music video, made available for viewing on the Google owned platform without permission from the copyright owners of the music. It is wholly unacceptable that Google chooses to place little or no value on the music that they have used to populate their YouTube site. They claim that their business model cannot support the cost of paying for music. I wonder if any other business would succeed in using this excuse for refusing to pay for their essential supplies? “I’m sorry but we cannot pay for the electricity, gas or water as my business model doesn’t support it”!!! “Of course we don’t pay for fuel, we didn’t factor it in when we opened the taxi business”!!! Wake up Google, respect the value of the creative industries, remunerate and support them, WE ARE YOUR FUTURE CONTENT!

Supporting PRS for Music.

The Creators’ Rights Alliance (CRA) is a collective of creators and its affiliates include the NUJ, BAPLA, Association of Illustrators, Society of Authors, ALCS, Directors UK, PCAM, Garden Media Guild, Musicians Union, Association of British Science Writers, Chartered Institute of Journalists, Society of Authors, Writers Guild of Great Britain and Outdoor Writers & Photographers Guild. We support fair pay for creators by supporting Fair Play for Creators.

YouTube and Google video are places where consumers can express their love for music as well as many other things. As a result it is only fair that musicians are fairly compensated for this like they are on radio and TV. The internet should be no exception.

Until I can walk, uninvited, into a stranger’s house, eat their food, use their appliances, then leave, promising to pay sometime in the future. I don’t expect the same thing to happen to me.

I think that it is fair that You Tube pay a percentage per viewing.

The argument that musicians should regard on-line exposure as free advertising assumes that selling (for example) CDs is still a realistic way for most of them to make a sufficient income. In reality this prospect has probably been undermined by the very medium they are supposed to be thankful for.

I am totally in favour of your stand. It cannot be right that anyone who likes can copy a piece of music which is someone else's creative work, stick a few pictures on top, and upload it as a 'video' for anyone and everyone to download. Music is not free to the creator - it is the product of sweat and toil. So well done, and keep up the good work.

A fair deal for composers. That's what we want.

If any society does not reward its creative artists for their efforts then it ceases to be viable as a representative unit of humanity in all its variables and format. A country abuses or neglects its creators at its peril.

KEEP UP THE PRESSURE!

My entire income is derived from music royalties. Without a system of transparency and fairness which everyone across digital and web-media respects, the whole royalties concept becomes meaningless. Google has derived and continues to derive traffic and therefore (directly or indirectly) revenue from offering music content. There's no reason for there to be one rule for one and another for everyone else. Come on Google!

The theory of relativity simplified: E = MC2 E = Eat M = Music C = Composed 2 = Squared meals daily to survive. IE: Food feeds the body, Music feeds the soul. We pay for food, so why shouldn't we pay for music. That way musicians/writers can feed the brain that creates the music E = MC2 - simple really IT'S ALL RELATIVE!

Hear, hear!