Darlings, I have not yet addressed this issue as I have kept my head low and for one reason or another, or just plain luck, I have not yet been targeted. However, many if not most of my friends in the music blogging world have been victims to DMCA notices and have had their work stolen, not returned, with no explanation, all done by a system of anonymous complaint.

The following words are from Paul Haig’s label manager Evan, Rhythm of Live ROLinc

Bloggers have come under increasing attack in recent times, thanks to many in the music industry using the draconian measures of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), an American piece of legislation signed by President Clinton in 1998 which insists that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) must remove material that appears to constitute copyright infringement.

So, if a music industry lawyer discovers a blogger has posted an mp3 of a song without permission, they can contact the ISP, claim they represent the individual or organisation with the copyright and demand the offending material be removed. Fair enough you might say…

But, the law is such that anyone can use DMCA to demand a takedown without having to prove that they have ownership of the copyright, and the ISP have no option but to comply – it has even been proven that where musicians have expressly given support for their song to be highlighted on a blog, an anonymous DMCA request has seen the mp3 removed.

Such was the case last month when ‘The Vinyl Villain’ blog, one that has been running since September 2006 and almost exclusively looks back to music of the 80s and 90s, featured ‘Blue For You’, one of the early solo singles by Paul Haig. The blogger had been in touch with the singer who didn’t object at all to featuring the song and was given a few words by Paul Haig to add to the story behind its recording in Edinburgh back in 1982.

Within 48 hours of publication, the piece was removed by the ISP, although no-one associated with the copyright had made such a request.

In response, Paul Haig immediately decided to make his 2007 single ‘Reason’ available through ‘The Vinyl Villain’ blog on the basis that music fans who downloaded the song and decided that they liked it were more than likely to subsequently purchase a copy. So far, after just more than a week, no-one has asked the ISP to remove the mp3….

In thanks the bloggers have agreed to make April 6 Paul Haig Day. As many bloggers will make ‘Reason’ available on their blogs as possible. If you go stumbling around music blogs on the Internet on Monday 6th April, there’s a reasonable chance you’ll find someone saying good things about Paul Haig, arguably the greatest pop star to ever have come out of Edinburgh.

So far, some 25 bloggers have decided that next Monday should be designated ‘Paul Haig Day’ and will be featuring posts about the musician whose career goes back almost 30 years to the days when Postcard Records were The Sound of Young Scotland. This sudden upsurge of interest in the former Josef K lead singer is no accident, and is the result of a number of music fans, not all of whom know much about Paul Haig, wanting to thank him for taking a stand and encouraging bloggers to keep on doing what they do.

So yes, dear readers, I do remember Josef K… I am that old, haha! But mostly because I was, back in the day, a manic anglophile eating up every bit of post-punk goodness I could find. Here is Paul Haig’s single and I encourage you to find out about this generous musician who sees music blogging the way many of us do, and the way we wish all musical artists did! Enjoy this track, go have a look/see at his label, shell out some paypal dollars and support music no matter how much the DMCA tries to squelch it. xoxoxo

Reason mp3 Paul Haig ….. buy it here ….. MySpace

what JC says about “Reason”

This is a piece of work in which all copyright is in the ownership of Paul Haig. It’s on his own label, ROL, (short for Rhythm Of Life) and is another example of the catchy electronic-pop that he’s been so adept at over the past two decades and beyond. His voice is still as strong and distinctive as ever, and he gives us a tune that’s infinitely superior to countless others that have conquered the pop charts by manufactured and over-hyped bands and artists with talent that collectively wouldn’t match that of Mr Haig’s pinky. And I know that’s not just my view, for this was a single that was Record of the Week on BBC Radio 2 back in May 2007…..

and do go pop over to JC’s blog and read his great post today! xoxoxo