Question: In light of the recent Napster case, what are your views on Internet file-sharing and the protection of intellectual property online? Where would your administration draw the line regarding freedom to access content versus copyright infringement?
Submitted from Mary of Front Royal, Virginia through Yahoo! (10/17/00)
Answer from Al Gore:
Reaching A Compromise Between New Technology And Artists' Rights
Gore grew up near the songwriters' capital of the world: Nashville, Tenn.
Mary, just like many music lovers, I think Napster is a terrific innovation, but I think we've got to find a way to reconcile this technology with artists' rights. If an artist writes and sings a song, and someone else benefits from it without compensating the artist, the artist is hurt.
I think that protecting the songwriter's intellectual property or any artist's creative rights is really important. I come from a part of the country, next to the songwriting capital of the world: Nashville, Tenn. Years ago, when radio was invented there was a huge controversy. How in the world are songwriters ever going to get protected when the songs are just broadcast over the radio? It's similar in some ways to the Napster phenomenon, and they came up with solutions.
Now, artists are compensated every time a song is played on the radio. It ought to be easier, over time, to come up with a way that has a little bit of compensation for artists. I think we need to keep working on a compromise that allows Napster-type technologies to flourish but does not take away the artist's intellectual property.
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