Leading the Listener Mutiny to Redeem the Pirate Scourge: An Account of the Dire Straits of the Recording Industry

In the interest of promoting the Progress of the musical arts, this paper proposes three options for the salvation of the recording industry as it lies bleeding under the sword of technological advancement. The first and least likely treatment lies in the hands of the Circuit Courts: resolve the disparate jurisprudence concerning the culpability of file-sharers for copyright infringement. The second and least developed treatment lies in the Aisle: reform the limitations on exclusive rights in the Copyright Act to clarify which common listener behaviors are impermissibly injurious to the Progress of the musical arts and which are fair and proper interactions with musical culture. The third and most viable solution lies in the inept hands of the music industry: lower prices of legitimate music files drastically by embracing new music production, social networking, and P2P distribution technologies, and greatly increase the transparency of the compensation channel from listener/consumer to recording artist.