Web Sheriff
Protecting Your Rights on the Internet
Tel 44-(0)208-323 8013 / Fax 44-(0)208-323 8080 websheriff@websheriff.com www.websheriff.com

Dear Product Shop,

Kindly remove the unreleased WHITE STRIPES files / links from your site immediately, failing which - regrettably - a DMCA notification shall be forwarded to you and take-down action shall follow : naturally, however, we hope that such a course of action shall not prove to be necessary.

On behalf of the artist’s label, we do appreciate that - of course - you are promoting THE WHITE STRIPES but, by the same token, you must also appreciate that, by posting a pirate copy of the album or tracks from the album pre-release (or linking to pirate copies), you are potentially causing considerable inconvenience and we are sure that you would not want to be responsible (or liable) for all of the resulting damage.

Thank you for respecting the Jack & Meg’s creation and copyrights.

Kind Regards,

WEB SHERIFF

that conquest song is effing terrible.

Thanks for the links ProdShop. The sheriff above needs to understand that these tracks promote his artist(s), heightening interest for the proper hi-fidelity CD, when it is released, as well as heightening anticipation of the artists forthcoming tour.

There is absolutely no need for blogs to post mp3's.

1. The primary focus is not promoting the band. It's driving their own site traffic.
2. Even if it's 'promotional', it's not up to blogs to decide how to promote a band or song; certainly not when it involves giving away something that does not belong to them and something that is very commonly sold for a standard price.
3. There are flash players that many sites use now to allow people to listen to tracks without downloading.

People wonder why bands like the Stars put on gratuitous releases, which PFork slams them for, consisting of commissioned covers of their previous album? It's because not enough people are buying music and they need to resort to selling novelties.

What % of people do you really think use these mp3s to sample and then either delete if they don't like it or buy if they do? I would guess no more than 15%.

fucking fake ass websheriff, who has the time to make up this bullshit? fuck off

yeah fuck that guy. what a douchebag. major labels need to get their heads out of their asses.

You guys are fuckin' BABIES. You just want everything for free. You haven't the first clue what it means to create something from scratch only to haven it stolen from you time and time again. Have a little respect for the artists and those who try to protect their creations.

Or not.

Or just cry about it and call people douchebags when the reality is YOU'RE the douchebag.

The $240 plus dollars I recently spent on 4 WS tix wasn't exactly free. Nor the previous WS shows I've attended, nor the 3 WS CD's plus singles I've previously purchased. And I suppose I'll have to pay at least $10 for the new CD when it comes out.

In the meantime, the lo-fidelity mp3's get me excited about the new record, and forthcoming tour, and allows me to share the music with friends - who may become fans, and patrons too, of the White Stripes. That's how I see the mp3 samples working in the marketplace.

Boy... sure wish those people would come by MY website and steal/download fuzzy copies of MY crappy tracks, therefore denying ME the opportunity of ever making any money off of my craft...
Wake up YOU big babies... duh, we don't want everything for free, but now that RADIO is dead as a form of broadcasting means, it SUCKS having to track down the whole THREE decent music mags (only TWO of which have decent sampler cd's, ONE of which wasn't even sold in my hometown growing up), only to find out that NONE of those musicians would be touring in Canada, and the local HMV/MusicWorld/Big K Records isn't even carrying copies.
SO... as one of those people who ACTUALLY BOUGHT tickets to their next show (at 4 times the price of a new cd, thank you), who appreciates that they make faaar more money touring than they do on album sales- I say THANK YOU to the people who DO offer downloads on their site, and DON'T bitch everytime somebody wants to hear a track WITHOUT forking over a buck-nineteen for it. Perhaps if the White Stripes got on board with new media and offered lo-fi mp3s on their OWN website, they'd be in a much better position to control what content gets released...
So, Jack... Do the rest of the musicians in the world a favor and QUIT WHINING every time a radio station plays a legally downloaded European track by the Raconteurs A WEEK before the legal Canadian download comes out- and just say "thanks for all the love and money" instead...
(PS- I don't care if there ARE grammar or spelling mistakes in my post... go make yourself feel superior editing someone ELSE's hastily typed comments...)

here here. jack whiney white indeed. bluddy coke adverts and all.
i do feel that it is ethically 'wrong' to download music as the works belong to the artist, but, to get uptight about it IMO compromises the artists integrity and reminds us (particularly with large or large-ish bands) that the music business is just that - a comercial enterprise: something which at times is the absoulte antithesis of 'art'.
download mp3s till the cows come home, if you support the artist's music, ethos etc. please DO buy their physical merchandise or show tickets. if you don't like them, then you can rest easy that you havn't wasted your money buying something that was actually shit. AND you can take comfort in the fact that you'll have trod on their toes for it too. particularly if they whine a lot!