Topic: On-line Stores & Sellers

[Gurn Blanston]

Yeah geo-blocking is stupidly restrictive.  I see it in streaming (video and audio), ebooks and all sorts. 

But that is not the case with Qobuz.  They're not that large of a company (as compared to Spotify, Tidal and Apple Music) and are not in every country.  You can still stream and purchase music from other companies just not Qobuz.  The geo-blocking being discussed here is more like you want to purchase or stream some recording and you can't find it from any distributor simply because of your country... which is not the same thing as not having a service like Qobuz available.  It is entirely different.

Yes, I agree with that, but it goes towards the reason one buys from other countries. And since that drives me to England, the question arises: do I want to wait 2-3 weeks for a CD to make it here, or do I want to pay, download, and listen within 5 minutes? I think the answer is probably obvious, at least in MY case. I wish jpc did downloads...

[Todd]

Yeah geo-blocking is stupidly restrictive.

Blame governments and the silly laws they pass.  In the meantime, a mix of various services can help get around some restrictions.  A VPN service like NordVPN and a concierge service like that offered by Borderlinx can help defeat some restrictions.  Some vendors are obviously on to these options and stop them cold, and others are but look the other way.

[DavidW]

I am grateful to live in a time where I am not limited to the music that is only available at online stores and sellers.

You must live in NYC!  The only such stores around here are record stores.  And I haven't listened to an lp in a very long time.

[Madiel]

It’s got nothing to do with laws. We are talking about countries that all have well functioning markets and copyright protections and licensing and contracts.

It has to do with companies not bothering to release things in countries where they don’t thing it will sell, which of course guarantees that it won’t sell. It made sense in a physical distribution system, but in an online distribution system it’s stupid.

I get why the Danish part of Naxos might only sell a physical CD of Danish songs in Denmark, but Naxos is perfectly capable of selling downloads in countries all over the world. They’re not prevented by laws.

[Todd]

Intriguing, on GMG copyright protection is now considered to have nothing to do with laws. 

[Madiel]

Intriguing, on GMG copyright protection is now considered to have nothing to do with laws.

No, it's considered to have nothing to do with geo-blocking between countries with equivalent copyright protection.

Your general antipathy to governments is well known and I'm not going into this with you any further. You blame governments for lots of things.

[Todd]

No, it's considered to have nothing to do with geo-blocking between countries with equivalent copyright protection.

Your general antipathy to governments is well known and I'm not going into this with you any further. You blame governments for lots of things.

A very thoughtful post displaying a definitive and comprehensive understanding of copyright law.

[Madiel]

I got a Distinction in copyright law. What did you get?

[Todd]

I got a Distinction in copyright law.

Good for you!  I shall forthwith direct one of the vendors I work with with copyright concerns to this site for professional legal advice.

Since I most certainly do not possess Distinction in copyright law, perhaps you can offer a brief summation of the key differences between US and Canadian copyright law.  It may just help in a specific situation that arose last year and has not yet been resolved.

[Brian]

Has anybody noticed a sort of warped sound on the samples on the Presto website in the last few days ? I had it on the Roussel edition and on the Holmboe Da Capo  string quartets for instance (actually that's most of them in my wishlist). Maybe something to do with their beta player ? I'll drop them a line in the morning.

Yes, I am just noticing this now while listening to samples from another box set.