Viewing Piracy in a New Light (continued...)

There has been some great discussion regarding the recent Tennessee legislation that essentially will hold Tennessee universities accountable for enforcing copyright on their respective campuses.

If you didn’t read what our guest blogger, Josh Belville, had to say about the new law - read it now.

I’ve heard some arguments in response to his idea saying that universities can’t force people to pay for something they may or may not use.

I disagree. Most universities already include blanket IT fees, SGA fees, Residence Council fees, etc. for all of their students, regardless of whether those students receive direct benefits from those services or not. I don’t love paying them, but I do understand that they are necessary for such an institution to operate. A music subscription fee fits well with these others because even if a small percentage of students will not be using the service, they still receive the benefit of the legal protection that subscription provides. Further, the costs of creating a plan like Josh Belville suggests will be far less than what it costs to litigate infringements in court. You know as well as I do that lawsuits are highly inefficient, and those costs will eventually funnel down  and raise taxes as well as tuition costs across the board.

The new Tennessee law will cost those colleges upwards of $13 million. Ars Technica discusses it here. Essentially, students will have to pay either way.

Would you rather your money go to lawyers or to music businesses, labels, and artists?