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This is probably an overreaction; the right of artists and labels to charge for a track that costs virtually nothing to distribute is no less valid than the right of a pharmaceutical company to charge for drugs that cost virtually nothing to distill. There's a fairly massive development and marketing cost, and if that cost can't be recouped, then nobody will invest it. An end to all copyright law would effectively be an end to art and entertainment as we know it.
But, as much as it is an overreaction, it is a reaction, and a legitimate one at that; I suspect not just a reaction to persecution of the little guys but also to major debacles like the megaupload case. As much as the EU hates piracy, one thing the EU hates even more is Americans getting all up in their grill. So, no surprise here at all to me, really; the constant influx of American media has always been viewed as a kind of cultural hegemony, annoying but grudgingly-tolerated, but in the last decade or so, the media companies and their slimeball lawyers have just been taking it too far, coercing worldwide courts into doling out obscene sentences for what were essentially petty crimes, whose victims represent precisely the kind of bland mass-produced crap that many Europeans would rather not have as part of their identity to begin with.
As much as we need copyright law for creativity and art to flourish, the current system is an antiquated mess, and like so many legacy systems just-barely-still-running today, there seems to be no one around anymore with the right mix of talent, experience, and passion to actually maintain it. And in those cases, the only other option is, essentially, to rebuild it from scratch.
I've been saying for years that we basically need to make a fresh start with copyright law and most IP law in general. I sincerely doubt that this decision represents anybody's end-game, it's just a formal declaration/recognition of the fact that the system we have is broken beyond repair. I don't interpret the decision as a denouncement of IP in general, it's just saying that it's not enough to let somebody rot in prison solely because they broke copyright, you have to prove that they did damage on a societal scale (i.e. beyond costing your monopoly a few extra bucks... er, euros).
I look forward to seeing what comes out of this. I hope that it is, ultimately, a system that is fair to the producer, distributor, and consumer.
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My party schedule:
2009-02-21 - DJ Attention @ I'm So Popular
2009-06-18 - DJ Annoying @ People Need To Know Where I'll Be
2012-11-32 - DJ Insufferable ɸ Or At Least the Stalkers I Complain About
2048-06-66 - Spastic & Whocares ¶ Although I'm Actually Flattered
9999-45-81 - Tweaker Gimp ☼ I Probably Won't Even Go To This But I Have To Make Sure I Fill Up All The Available Space Here
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