Should you steal Nile Rodgers’ songs?: Intellectual property, music downloading discussed at MKA panel

On April 8, 2000, about a year before his untimely death, Billboard Magazine Editor-in-Chief Timothy White, who spent a good part of his youth living in Montclair, wrote, “In the 21st century, the primary source of wealth will not be the Internet, the stock market, or the music industry, but rather intellectual property.”

Four years after that prediction, the Parents’ Association of The Montclair Kimberley Academy presented a panel discussion that examined some of the complex issues surrounding intellectual property, particularly music. , on Monday, April 12.

The discussion, “Steal This Song? Questions of Right and Wrong: Intellectual Property and Today’s Technology,” drew a crowd of predominantly teenagers, who remain a prized demographic of the music industry.

Yet, that same demographic has been targeted by lawsuits initiated by the music industry aimed at prosecuting those who download music files from the Internet for free.

“When it comes to the question of downloading, whether it’s morally right or like stealing, it’s an issue that I’m not really clear on my opinion on that,” said Nile Rodgers, who is best known as the co-founder of the disco-rock band, Chic, the writer of Sister Sledge’s hit “We Are Family,” and who has had an illustrious career as a music producer.

“I’ve spoken to a number of students over the last few months, and I haven’t been to one school where at least 99 percent of all of the kids there download routinely. They have different feelings about it but most people don’t feel that it’s bad,” Rodgers said.

“Even though a lot of it is stuff that I create, I’m not sure if I felt that it’s bad,” he said. “I certainly don’t think that kids who downloaded are criminals. Record companies and content owners need to find a better way to protect it.”

But for panelist and Montclair resident Val Azzoli, who was CEO of Atlantic Records from 1994 until this year, downloading was simply the wrong thing to do.

“It really bothers me when we diminish the value of music because of technology,” Azzoli said. “Because it’s easily accessible doesn’t mean it should be free. The bottom line is it’s wrong.”

While Azzoli agreed that kids shouldn’t be sued for downloading, he also said that the music industry is at the mercy of an “honor system” that is difficult to police.

“I don’t know what the answer is. I think the answer is morals,” said Azzoli, whose former label currently includes Kid Rock and Lil’ Kim on its roster.

Some of the discussion turned to how the Internet had changed the way people value intellectual property.

Another Montclair resident on the panel, Don Katz, recalled how a story he had written had been circulated so much through the Internet during its early years that other people were claiming authorship of it.

“There was clearly a political point of view that this new medium, this new technology, was going to liberate all intellectual property,” Katz said. “It was all going to be free, and the amateur creator and professional creator were going to be brought to the same level.”

Katz is the co-founder and chairman of Audible Inc., a Web-based company that distributes spoken-word content such as audio books.

The company has succeeded where the major record labels have failed in that it has developed a system that Katz said can secure intellectual property that can be accessed by paying users, but not shared with those who did pay for its use.

When Rodgers pointed out that this was a shortcoming of the record industry, Azzoli said, “We made a mistake. We made a big mistake. It was the arrogance of the record industry.”

Fred Hapgood, a journalist who has been frequently published in Wired and Smithsonian magazines, forecasted that companies, including Microsoft, were developing greater capabilities for “social computing” that would increase real-time collaboration among members of online communities sharing music files of their favorite artists.

The description sounded familiar. A couple of years ago, the recorded-music industry was shaken by Napster, a music file-sharing server that enabled countless computer users to download free music.

“One perspective that I haven’t heard anybody in the record industry think of is, why not think in terms of sharing as the greatest form of promotion? The number one form of promotion is repetition,” Rodgers said.

“I bought more records when Napster first came on line because I started hearing stuff that friends of mine were sending me. It was fun to file-share. I wanted to know who wrote the song…how long…if there were remixes. I actually went out and bought the product.”

Eli Bildner, a sophomore at The Montclair Kimberly Academy, asked, “Do we need to just completely reinvent the system of how intellectual property is purchased or shared in this country?”

Azzoli said yes.

When another student asked why the music industry has been resistant to the new technology, Azzoli was just as direct.

“We’re scared,” he said. “We had a good thing going…and now we’re just petrified. This new technology has just taken away all of the power.”

The room applauded Azzoli’s straightforward acknowledgement.

“That’s incredibly brave of you to say that,” Rodgers said.

“That’s why I’m no longer in the business,” Azzoli answered.