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Sidewalk 65
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by jon bosworth
jaxvillain@yahoo.com
When I’m not sure what questions I want to ask a musician when I’m interviewing them, I have a few fallback questions. One of my favorites to ask is how they feel about the impact of the Internet on music. There are essentially two camps. There are those that think shareware helps people find new music, helps bands and labels find new audiences, and helps everyone sell more records. It is a win-win that labels are throwing a fit over because they don’t know how to evolve their business model to fit a changing culture. Then there are those that feel it is theft and it is wrong and it should be enforced by the law. If you are someone that has never downloaded a song or let a friend with Limewire make you a mix with whatever you want on it, then either you’re over fifty or you are really committed to this latter ideal.
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But if you’re anything like me, you download and listen first, then buy when the decision is informed. Imagine getting stuck in the cogs of a legal system that hasn’t caught up with your culture. That’s just what happened to Jared Bowser. Jared is a local musician that performs with A Slight Breeze and Shangrala. Back in 2005 Jared got an advance copy of the Ryan Adams album Jacksonville City Nights. He went to some Ryan Adams blogs and posted the fact that he had heard the new album and that it was great. People emailed him and asked if they could purchase the album and Jared refused. A man from Milwaukee offered to give Jared some rare Ryan Adams EPs in exchange for some of the songs from the new album. Jared agreed and sent him four of the fifteen songs. He never received anything in return and the man posted the songs on a Ryan Adams fan site.
I caught up with Jared at work, one of only three places he is currently allowed to go, and spoke with him about his indictment and how it came about.
“I got a call from the FBI at work three days after it was posted. Agent John McMurtry called and left a message. I returned his call and answered his questions about where I got it from. I was cooperative.”
Local agents came to Jared’s home and asked for permission to copy his hard drive for evidence and that was the last he heard about it all for nearly six months. On March 9th he got an email from a reporter in Nashville, Tennessee, that wanted to interview him about his indictment.
“He wanted to interview me about an indictment I didn’t know anything about. Then the FBI called me and told me I was indicted and had 30 days to appear before a judge in Tennessee for arraignment. So I had to get a lawyer and head up there to do that.”
Jared was originally charged with a three count felony indictment, including conspiracy and copyright infringement. They reduced the charges to a misdemeanor with house arrest and probation if he pleaded guilty. Jared was forced to wear an anklet and not allowed to leave his home for the term of his sentence except to attend church or work.
“I think downloading entire albums isn’t the best thing, it can hurt artists, but a song or two or even three will help the artist because it gets fans hyped up about the release. Of course they’re going to download it, but a couple of songs doesn’t harm the artist or the label.”
Jared says that the judge himself stated that since the prosecutor couldn’t prove any financial loss from the incident, the law was limited in what it could do. But United States Attorney, Jim Vines claimed in the afore mentioned press release that these crimes victimize the artists, who get to determine how their music is distributed, and the businesses that foot the bill to put the music out. So Jared was put on house arrest for 8 weeks. They put an electronic device on his ankle and he is not allowed to leave his home for anything other than work or church.
“It was a reality shock that hit me when they put on the ankle bracelet. That made me realize that this was real.”
Since that day Jacksonville’s own Jared Bowser has been mentioned in the Hollywood Reporter, Pitchfork Media, Billboard, and a variety of other industry papers, not for his music, as I’m sure he would prefer, but rather as a poster child for the new Family Entertainment and Copyright Act.
“I honestly don’t think that I did anything wrong. I don’t think that what I did hurt anybody. It only hurt me and my family, with all of the legal fees. I guess, technically, the mp3s weren’t mine to do whatever with, but I don’t think the principle was wrong. It was four tracks from a 15 song album, and the entire album was already available on his website, as all of his last three albums have been since 2005.”
Jared is officially off of house arrest as of last weekend. To ask him about the debacle first-hand, catch him at his next show. He will be playing at the Murray Hill Theatre with Shangrala and Cool Hand Luke on Friday, February 23rd.
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