CD Wow In Court Over Grey Market CD's
It seems that it's going to be more difficult to get foreign CD releases of domestic artists. The BPI (British Phonographic Industry) are seeking a contempt of court order against CD WOW over claims that it is deliberately selling CD's made for other countries. In a statement issued by CD Wow they denied that they'd intentionally used grey imports of CDs not intended for this country and stated that any breaches were a result of human error.
Whilst I agree that artists, their agents and recording companies are somewhat justified in protecting their intellectual property and licenses. The nature of the internet is making it more and more apparent that the copyright laws we currently adhere to, don't work all that well in a global market.
I'm confused in this day of the internet and the aforementioned global market, why certain industries are still so regional in their thinking. I'm betting that a great many of these CD's are being bought by collectors for content and packaging which is not available on domestic releases. I know that I occasionally pick up CD’s overseas which includes multimedia DVDs and other content. For the collector this "Grey" market is a source of goods which are highly sought after. These goods are even legal and are licensed in the territories they are made for. So what, are the record companies, complaining for? (Rhetorical Question).
In the case of CD WOW, the retailer may be looking at trying to keep their margins low, I can't say one way or the other because I'm not in their shoes, nor am I their accountant. But remember this ... these record companies are the same folks, who think nothing of using cheaper labour and costs elsewhere to maximise their profits here. If that’s the case, why not pass on the cost directly to the retailers and subsequently to the consumer? Even better, price the products at a more reasonable level …
Here is a quick example:
U2’s - Achtung Baby retails in the US for $13.98. It retails here in the UK for £14.99 ... Why is it twice as much here? OK the price I'm quoting is the suggested list but I'm doing so in both cases. I can buy music from UK and Irish Artists cheaper, pretty much anywhere else in the world, and in some cases, even cheaper than they are in the US.
I'm guessing it's because they think they can get away with people paying more for stuff here in the UK ... They're trying to keep us a captive and lucrative market. .
Whilst I agree that artists, their agents and recording companies are somewhat justified in protecting their intellectual property and licenses. The nature of the internet is making it more and more apparent that the copyright laws we currently adhere to, don't work all that well in a global market.
I'm confused in this day of the internet and the aforementioned global market, why certain industries are still so regional in their thinking. I'm betting that a great many of these CD's are being bought by collectors for content and packaging which is not available on domestic releases. I know that I occasionally pick up CD’s overseas which includes multimedia DVDs and other content. For the collector this "Grey" market is a source of goods which are highly sought after. These goods are even legal and are licensed in the territories they are made for. So what, are the record companies, complaining for? (Rhetorical Question).
In the case of CD WOW, the retailer may be looking at trying to keep their margins low, I can't say one way or the other because I'm not in their shoes, nor am I their accountant. But remember this ... these record companies are the same folks, who think nothing of using cheaper labour and costs elsewhere to maximise their profits here. If that’s the case, why not pass on the cost directly to the retailers and subsequently to the consumer? Even better, price the products at a more reasonable level …
Here is a quick example:
U2’s - Achtung Baby retails in the US for $13.98. It retails here in the UK for £14.99 ... Why is it twice as much here? OK the price I'm quoting is the suggested list but I'm doing so in both cases. I can buy music from UK and Irish Artists cheaper, pretty much anywhere else in the world, and in some cases, even cheaper than they are in the US.
I'm guessing it's because they think they can get away with people paying more for stuff here in the UK ... They're trying to keep us a captive and lucrative market. .
posted by Mario Georgiou @ 11:39 AM
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