A few weeks ago I mentioned in a piece about the financial troubles of Sirius/XM that it seemed to me that Bob Dylan didn’t mind the widespread pirating of his “Theme Time Radio Hour” show on satellite radio. I referred to his comment directed at people who may have missed an earlier show, “Why don’t you go illegally download it?” And that wasn’t the first reference on the show to the fact that people do copy “Theme Time Radio Hour” and share it. A reader named Russ took issue with my conclusion that Bob didn’t mind and made a strong case. A couple of other readers agreed with him. I invited Bob the DJ to settle it with an e-mail. He hasn’t (unless it went into my spam folder, which his e-mails often do) but he certainly all but straightened it out on his “Family Circle” edition of “Theme Time Radio Hour” this week. It was during the part of the show where he reads an e-mail from an alleged listener. My transcript:

It’s from Melanie Whistler and she writes to us from Spokane, Washington: “Dear Bob, the shows have been exceptional this year. I copy them and give them to my friends. I know it’s illegal, but they really enjoy them.” — Well Melanie, I’m complimented, but I can’t actually condone that kind of behavior. She continues: “Maybe you can help me with a problem. My husband is stricter with our son than he is with our daughter. What should I …” [etc]

Bob then gives some advice that sounds like it came straight out of a book on parenting, and ends the segment with the following words:

I’m sure you guys will work it out. And stop giving my shows away.

The bolding is mine, naturally. Bob wasn’t shouting at those points — he was saying it nicely. But his statements are clear enough, surely. I don’t see how an argument can be made that he was being anything but straightforward here, even though it’s within his generally humorous e-mail segment. Some might argue that Bob was told to say something like this, perhaps to make up for those earlier remarks which could actually undermine potential legal action against pirating of the show. But getting into all that kind of speculation is pointless. He said it. I stand corrected. Russ was right. Bob Dylan does not condone the illegal copying and sharing of his “Theme Time Radio Hour” show.

Yet, I personally remain flummoxed as to why the people of Sirius/XM apparently make no effort of their own to protect their copyrighted material. As one dramatic example, on the official Sirius/XM page for Bob Dylan’s show, there are four links for “BOB DYLAN ON THE WEB.” One of them is for Expecting Rain, which is described as “Essential Daily News for Bob Dylan’s listeners.” It’s also the spot for essential weekly downloads of pirated mp3 versions of “Theme Time Radio Hour.” The left sidebar of that website has links to multiple sites where one can download copies of the show for free. By linking to this, Sirius/XM is undermining any future legal argument that they have vigorously asserted ownership of the “Theme Time Radio Hour” broadcast. And it is a truly bizarre business practice, is it not?

It’s not my intent to get up on a pedestal and condemn the copying of the show or the posting of links to it. It is for those at Sirius/XM to make the point that they care about it, or not. So far — excepting Bob Dylan’s remarks on this week’s show — the message has been: We don’t care. So why should anyone else? I don’t post links to these things on my site, because it’s just not my job, nor a role that I would seek. There are things called internet search engines which can lead you to just about anything you need, along with a lot of things you don’t. I do post little mp3s occasionally of live concert performances — things which are not commercially available. (And it’s part of the consideration of Bob Dylan’s work that goes on here, as my crack legal team just jumped up to say.)

I suppose we shall see whether Bob the DJ’s remarks are a prelude to some actual enforcement of “Theme Time Radio Hour” copyright, or just something he happened to feel like saying.

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Addendum: And I recommend reading the thoughtful observations on this issue over at Dreamtime.

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