I have an interesting idea.
I submit that one could record their own versions of popular songs and load their shared folder on their PC with out of key, warbling versions of popular songs. For example, one could submit their own caterwauling rendition of Madonna, Justin Timberlake, or Beyonce songs for download. Fire up KaZaa Lite, Grokster, I-Mesh, etc… make sure you have checked “Act As A Supernode” in the software, and wait for the RIAA to find you. The chances are slim they’d get you with tens of millions of users trading files and they are only nailing about 75 a day or, so we think… no one but the RIAA and their lawyers really know.
Now, when you get your subpoena, you and your lawyer submit your evidence and play for the court your atrocious and awful renditions of these popular, published and copyrighted songs. All you need to do is wait for the laughter to commence. In fact, I view it as an act of high comedy to the extreme. High enough comedy to make the media sit up and take notice. High enough comedy to make the judicial community to re-think their forced hands in recouping record company lost profits. High enough comedy to make the RIAA look terribly foolish, not that they aren’t doing a good job of that themselves.
Now, there is a catch, according to BMI, there are minimum usage fees that would need to be paid for the license of the use of the songs. But, they are not substantial and it would be very easy to prove that no profits were incurred or, more importantly, lost because the of the existence of such recordings. In fact, this very thing is done many, many times. As I understand it, you don’t need an artists permission to record their songs, you just need to pay them and their publishing companies fair and calculated share of the income you generated from them. Of course it’s a waste of the courts time, of course the judge would be angry but, you will not have broken any laws.
I know it’s a bit of a stretch but, picture someone in a courtroom, judges, lawyers, the gallery of observers… the defense attorney places a boom box on the table and plays your appallingly awful rendition of “Ooops I did it again” by Brittney Spears. That alone would be worth all the trouble….
So, grab you microphones and get to work… I dare ya.