WTF? RIAA and a SWAT team jointly raid a DJ...

[benEzra]

http://www.idolator.com/tunes/riaa/dj-drama-gets-raided-by-the-feds-229216.php

Last night the Atlanta-based mixtape crafter DJ Drama, who has worked with artists like Young Jeezy and T.I., was arrested after the RIAA and a SWAT team raided his studio, confiscating more than 50,000 CDs, recording equipment, and his car. Nah Right's eskay offers his take on the situation:

"Atlanta's Fox 5 reports that a police SWAT team in conjunction with RIAA anti-piracy agents raided DJ Drama's Gangsta Grillz recording studio earlier today and arrested both he and fellow Aphilliate Don Cannon on piracy charges. The ramifications of something like this are potentially pretty huge for high profile mixtape DJ's. The RIAA just disgusts me to the point where I don't want to ever pay for a retail cd again in my life. They didn't seem to mind a year ago when Drama was promoting T.I. and pushing his album to Gold status in a week. And check out the report below and notice how even though the cops didn't find any illegal drugs or weapons, they were sure to mention how the discovery of such contraband is typical during these raids on "counterfeiters." In the video they are clearly confiscating boxes of Gangsta Grillz mixtapes, yet they act like these guys were in there burning copies of retail albums."

The Fox report was pretty clueless, lumping mix tapes in as "illegal CDs," and the RIAA rep interviewed seemed to be more than happy to assist in that conflation, referring only to the "900% profits" that resulted from the albums' manufacture. Reports say that DJ Drama and Cannon were charged with racketeering and that they'll be in court this morning, and the Gangsta Grillz site now only advertises an album that DJ Drama is putting out in conjunction with Atlantic Records. What this raid means for the mixtape industry--which, as Eskay notes, has been key to promoting hip-hop artists' new records--is uncertain at the moment, although the RIAA rep's incessant, smug references to "counterfeiting" in the report linked above can't be seen as a good sign.

This is problematic on so many levels.

First big problem: the RIAA getting a freaking SWAT team to raid somebody accused of illegally copying music. Originally, SWAT was intended for use against terrorists and hostage takers; the mission expanded to taking down fortified crack houses; but sending in guys armed with machineguns to confiscate CD's??

Second big problem: the RIAA participating in the raid as if they were law enforcement. The RIAA's goons have pretended to be law enforcement before, but I've never heard of them participating in SWAT raids before...

This is ridiculous...

[Ignacio Upton]

1. Suddenly, calling them "Copyright Nazis" is apt

n/t.

[BattyDem]

2. How is it legal for civilians to participate in a police raid?

Couldn't it be argued that the evidence was tainted because the civilians had a personal and financial interest? :shrug:

[jobycom]

6. I'm sure lawyers will argue that if they think it will help.

Likely what happened is the RIAA folk came in after SWAT secured the place, to identify "evidence," since presumably SWAT wouldn't be able to recognize it. I'm sure defense attorneys will analyze their procedure to see if evidence chains were compromised. It's such a short article, though, that we don't really know what happened in detail, so it's hard to say exactly what was done, and by whom.

[Selatius]

3. Hey, this is fair under capitalism.

The big 4 media company conglomerates that dominate the bulk of the world music market cannot--I repeat--cannot make a profit off of the works of musicians and singers if they absolutely cannot control their content. Intellectual property rights laws are the lynchpin of their use of force.

If I'm one of these media conglomerates, I simply can't make money off you if you keep pirating my songs. Yes, they are my songs. When the musicians sign the typical contract, they gave me control over their content, and if you or any musician thinks you can get away from my power or my profit-seeking, you'll be seeing my lawyers as well as law enforcement come to bring you fire. The musician and the consumer are slaves to my profit margins.

[HoneyBee]

4. So... you think this is "fair", amicable and reasonable way to handle it?

The S.W.A.T. Team? Really???

[Richard Steele]

12. I think Selatius was being sardonic there. (BTW: Welcome to DU!) nm

[HoneyBee]

16. Oops.That whizzed right over my head.

:blush:

And, thanks!

[newyawker99]

17. Hi HoneyBee!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[NJCher]

7. who cares if they can't make a profit? I don't..

Screw 'em; that's my attitude. Their profits are the least of my concerns. If they go out of business, so much the better.

Musicians should stay clear of these leaches and should go for alternative marketing schemes for their recordings. There are plenty of alternatives out there.

Likewise, the consumer should attempt to get music the least expensive way possible. If the consumer can get it for free, more power to them.



Cher

[majorjohn]

10. I like that n/t

[jobycom]

5. About the SWAT team

Not to defend the raid or the reason for the raid, but just to explain SWAT...

The article cited doesn't mention the time of the raid, so I don't know if the club was open at the time, but if there is an issue of crowd control, SWAT would be called. If the club was closed or not a large enough club to have a crowd, they may have had a tip or some reason to believe there were weapons, or there may have still been a concern that there would a larger group of people present. Since the raid was carried out with speed, they plan for the worst, rather than having the cops show up, decide whether there is a crowd and the likelihood of weapons, then step back and call SWAT only if needed. They just have SWAT handle the entire raid. When raiding a scene with a random group of people, meaning a group of people that the authorities can't really identify beforehand, they are often overly cautious, to prevent one or two in the group from having a chance to panic and start shooting.

The purpose of the raid seemed to be to collect evidence as well as make an arrest (not to mention to make a statement), so the authorities would have wanted to raid as quickly as possible, to prevent possible destruction of evidence (including drugs and weapons they were probably hoping to find). SWAT is better geared for that in some cities than the police, when the scene to be searched is somewhat public (as opposed to, say, a house or an apartment).

In general, cops respond with too much force, if possible, rather than too little. It cuts down on casualties on both sides, and since cops are just doing a job, and since no one should die doing their job, they are overly cautious, and worry about hurt feelings afterwards.

It's possible, too, that the RIAA or the cops also hammed up the danger to strengthen their case for warrants. They may have convinced a judge that there was a possible meth lab or drug operation, with lots of weapons, so they could get the warrant. Once the warrant said this, the cops were going to respond accordingly. That's just guessing, but that's pretty much what happened in Waco.

Anyway, again, not defending the reasons for the raid, just explaining why the cops responded with that much force. I'm sure we both know that if this were a white guy recording studio in uptown Manhatten, SWAT wouldn't have been used the same way. So there's that whole racism-profiling thing going on, too. Welcome to America.

[NJCher]

8. way to go, law enforcement

Capturing the hearts and minds of America's youth.

Dumb f^&*s.



Cher

[jobycom]

9. The hearts and minds of America's youth don't pay them, therefore they don't

interest them.

I have a lot of sympathy in general for cops. I used to have a lot of friends who were cops. So I try to understand what they do, and why. Imagine having a job where you literally every night have to fear for your life. Not figuratively, not exageration. Literally. They have children and families to protect, etc, and all of that can be destroyed at any time by some jackass wanting to get out of a $80 speeding ticket. Or in this case, some punk teenager sitting in a club with a vial in his pocket, absolutely convinced the raid is because of him.

Having said that, the whole system gives too much power and authority to the police. A raid like this should only be allowed when there is clear and present danger to the safety and lives of the public, not when the profits of the recording industry are in jeopardy. Too many laws over nothing, too much leeway to use force, or even to get into dangerous situations in the first place. To me the problem isn't the cops, the problem is the legal system in general, top to bottom.

A case like this seems more a civil matter than a criminal one, and even where laws are being broken, it seems like a case where cops should make arrests, then walk in peacefully with warrants to search for evidence. Instead, they made a circus and started casting drag nets hoping to find anything else they could, in order to strengthen the case against this man. They were hoping someone had drugs, obviously, to make the whole raid worthwhile.

Just my thoughts. Too long winded, as usual.

[benEzra]

11. Well put.

To me, unless there's more to the story, use of SWAT in this instance was like using SWAT to raid the office of an accountant accused of tax fraud.

[SoCalDem]

13. So, I must have missed the story about SWAT teams taking on the OIL companies

for their "excessive" profits.. Maybe that's next?

Surely what THEy do is not all sunshine, raindrops & puppies.

Taking a country's natural resources, in exchange for payola to corrupt leaders WE put in place (to make the deals), and having none of that benefit the millions of people living in those countries cannot be "right"..

But a bunch of people remixing music is somehow a high priority..:eyes:

[sakabatou]

14. What. the. Fuck?!

[porphyrian]

15. I'm torn on the intellectual property laws.

On the one hand, I do believe an artist should be able to make a living doing what they do, regardless of the media they choose to do it with.

On the other hand, how do you copyright something that doesn't exist as a physical thing, like an idea or a song? A copy is made as soon as you hear it, in your brain. That's the nature of human memory. Technically, we'd be violating copyright law simply by listening to something we didn't buy. Should I pay royalties for singing someone else's song? If I view a painting, the same thing happens, but no one suggests that this is a copyright violation. Only taking the painting would be theft, not simply viewing it - the painting remains where it was. And, I'm free to take a picture of it (in most cases), so I can look at it later. However, in the case of music again, if I copy a song, leaving the original intact and in place, it is considered a copyright violation.

I don't want to hurt the artists - they've already got it hard enough trying to do what they do and make a living without selling too much of their soul. However, I have a hard time reconciling the law as it currently applies.

[benEzra]

18. I think copyright protections are reasonable...

although the RIAA wants to prevent you from doing things that are perfectly legal, like making backup copies of CD's and DVD's you own, via mandatory DRM. But I agree in general with the copyright laws, at least as they stood before the RIAA/Disney legislation was passed a few years ago.

What I think was ridiculous in this case was sending SWAT after somebody accused of copying music. What's next, sending in SWAT to take down jaywalkers, or accountants who are suspected of fraud? And the RIAA participating in the raid (commando wannabes, they forget they are a TRADE GROUP, not a law enforcement entity) was also IMHO over the top.

[JeffR]

19. As a musician who sells music via MP3 w/o a record contract

I'll just say that the RIAA has become a preposterous organization, as absurd as King Canute trying to turn back the tide. It's a different world now, you fossils. Of course I'm concerned about my copyrights, but the RIAA would be the last organization on the planet I would turn to for assistance with anything.

[NJCher]

20. RIAA is seeding their own demise

'll just say that the RIAA has become a preposterous organization, as absurd as King Canute trying to turn back the tide. It's a different world now, you fossils.

Thanks for adding your perspective as an artist who is marketing via an alternative music distribution scheme. I am a college teacher who works with in the area of technology/evolution, digital media, copyright protection, etc. As can be seen on this thread, even the relatively enlightened people of DU don't see that the technology will force a change in the distribution and copyright of music. This kick-down-the-doors action just shows how desperate the RIAA has become.

The RIAA has essentially screwed themselves because of their decades-long practices of cheating the artist. The artists made money in spite of the recording producers. Using sharkster lawyers, the artist has always been cheated from what was his rightful due. Gerd Leonhard has a bar chart in his book that shows the artist gets something like 4-7 per cent of the total take on a recording. The rest goes to the producers, advertising, etc. So anyone here who thinks that copyright protection (as promoted by the RIAA ) will benefit the artist does not really understand the way the current system works.

So because the RIAA has always screwed the artists, the artists learned how to make a profit from ways other than the recordings. They do it with concerts, merchandise, etc. In the end, the RIAA will have set themselves up for their own demise--and they did it all because of insatiable greed.



Cher

Gerd Leonhard: http://gerdleonhard.typepad.com/