Why Artists Oppose the European Union Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement Directive

Alberto Cottica, Fiamma Fumana

“As an artist and songwriter, I am fully aware that it is NOT copyright protection paying my bills. What is paying my bills is the support I get from the audience.

And it would not be intellectually honest to deny that private copies and file sharing have helped widening our fan base, exposing our music to more people than would otherwise have been possible. Once people get to like you they WANT to support you; buying your CDs or T-shirts, and coming to gigs are ways to share in our cultural projects. This sort of relationship does not need to be enforced by law. In fact, I think that the less legal tampering with it, the better.

The new EU Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement Directive has nothing to do with protecting the interest of artists, or at least the overwhelming majority of us.
Rather, it seems like an effective tool to protect the interest of major recording companies, and it was these “majors,” not artists, lobbying for it.

Sorry, dudes: don’t claim you are doing any of this in my name, because YOU ARE NOT.”

~ Alberto Cottica

Alberto Cottica is a songwriter, guitarist, pianist, and accordionist. He writes, produces, and performs with the Italian band Fiamma Fumana, which has performed around the world and has successfully released two albums. Mr. Cottica’s previous band, the Modena City Ramblers, has sold over 350,000 albums worldwide. Many of Mr. Cottica’s songs are available for free download from his website at http://www.alberto.cottica.net or his band’s website http://www.fiamma.org.