No Rock And Roll Fun

DOMINIC LAWSON HAS HAD LOTS OF LETTERS: Thanks to Eleanor G for bringing this letter from yesterday's Sunday Telegraph to our attention:

Re: Quick read

Matt Phillips of the British Phonographic Industry - an organisation whose name underlines its prehistoric views - compares music copyright laws with those protecting The Sunday Telegraph (Letters, April 18). Presumably if the BPI ran the newspaper, it would cost £14.95 a copy and take only 45 minutes to read.

On the other hand, you, dear Editor, would be a very rich man.

From:
Michael Hilton, Wilmslow, Cheshire

And, in addition, there is a kind of similarity between the paper and the downloading of music - the Sunday Telegraph could be rushing round suing anyone who copied a page of the paper to pin to the office noticeboard; instead, they take a relaxed view. There's a system where people can sign up for a licence to photocopy stuff, but it works more on the honour system than by having it policed; we imagine that the press feels that if someone sees an article from their paper pinned up on a wall, or distributed in a classroom, it functions a bit like free advertising. Sure, they'd like to get the money back, but they're not going to burst blood vessels and make themselves look like terrible cunts trying to scrape back a few pence.