I was given this by Neil Leyton, writer, performer and boss of the Fading Ways label and outspoken lobbyist for the rethinking of copyright administration. Neil was handing out copies at an informal meal we had at Cây Tre, organised through the Pho email list — one of those events where people who only know each other as email addresses meet in the flesh for the first time.
Neil is a thorn in the side of the music industry orthodoxy that wants to lock down its 'product' and prevent fans from passing it on among themselves. I've seen him at a few events since that first meeting, and he always says hello — a real gent.
All the songs on this album (and most Fading Ways releases) are licensed under the Creative Commons framework. This means that the writers and performers retain the copyright, but openly permit some uses of their work which are normally prohibited. Instead of "all rights reserved", it's "some rights reserved". In all cases on this CD, fans can legally and freely copy, upload, download and otherwise share the music, as they credit the creators and don't make any money out of this activity. The Aceface track doesn't permit 'derivative works' (such as remixes), but the others do.
Well, I don't often give you music here, because I like to have permission before I give other people's stuff away. But since in this case I have permission, it would be churlish not to. Here you have:
- Aceface: Film Star
- The Pariahs: Nightime of Knives
- The Sinisters: Rocket
- Neil Leyton: Melancholy, Understanding
- Red Orkestra: The Sweet Hereafter
- Passion'd Flower: The Legend
The music on this CD isn't really to my taste (is this what they call emo?), but the politics most certainly are.
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