Whoever said music can tear artists apart may just want to rethink that argument.
While Taylor Swift and Katy Perry haven't seen eye-to-eye on every issue, both talented artists have signed a petition calling for a reform of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
According to Billboard, the petition organized by music manager Irving Azoff contends that YouTube and other tech companies have provided a safe harbor for copyright infringement under the current writing of the DMCA.
"It has allowed major tech companies to grow and generate huge profits by creating ease of use for consumers to carry almost every recorded song in history in their pocket via a smartphone, while songwriters' and artists' earnings continue to diminish," the petition stated. "Music consumption has skyrocketed, but the monies generated by individual writers and artists for that consumption has plummeted.
The petition continued: "The growth and support of technology companies should not be at the expense of artists and songwriters."
According to many artists who have signed the petition, the DMCA is ultimately out of date. And yes, the act was signed into law by President Bill Clinton back in 1998.
The Internet Association, a group that represents tech companies including Facebook, Google and Netflix, recently released a statement claiming the DMCA is working as intended.
"The Digital Millennium Copyright Act creates safe harbors for Internet platforms by ensuring they will not be liable for what their users do, so long as the platforms act responsibly," their statement to Billboard stated. "These smart laws allow people to post content that they have created on platforms—such as videos, reviews, pictures, and text. In essence, this is what makes the Internet great."
YouTube also assured fans that their business model is beneficial to many parties.
"The overwhelming majority of labels and publishers have licensing agreements in place with YouTube to leave fan videos up on the platform and earn revenue from them," the company said in a statement to Rolling Stone. "Today the revenue from fan uploaded content accounts for roughly 50 percent of the music industry's YouTube revenue. Any assertion that this content is largely unlicensed is false."
Paul McCartney, Kings of Leon, Steven Tyler and Lionel Richie are just a few of the hundreds of artists who have also called on Washington to reform the act. The petition is expected to be published in several Washington D.C.-based publications throughout the week.