The November issue of Wired will come with a free CD with a special license. According to the creative commons page, "These musicians are saying that true creativity needs to be open, fluid, and alive. When it comes to copyright, they are pro-choice. Here are 16 songs that encourage people to play with their tunes, not just play them".
I was eager to see the list of artists that have contributed and boy was I surprised to see the first artist on the list was none other than the Beastie Boys. Here they are encouraging people to "play with their tunes, not just play them" when I can't even play their latest CD on my home PC. That's right, Copy Control software on their "To The 5 Boroughs" album prevents it from playing on some CD Roms and players.
According to the Beastie Boys official site, "EMI is committed to fighting music piracy. To this end, EMI has been releasing copy protected CDs in Europe and certain other territories for over 18 months." In other words, the Boys will tell you this wasn't their idea but that of their record company. How can a band be at one end of the copyright spectrum when it comes to releasing a high profile "Rip. Sample. Mash. Share." CD with Wired magazine but at the completely opposite end when it comes to distributing their latest album in "Europe and certain other territories"? Blaming it all on your label doesn't cut it.
