This afternoon world's best DJ, Dutchman Armin van Buuren, and Green Party MEP Judith Sargentini debate each other on the future of copyright. It promises to be an interesting discussion.

Actually, Van Buuren is not looking forward to the discussion at all. "But someone has to say something, cause it is running out of hand." "If you create something, it's yours, then you deserve to be paid for it. It is that simple, and theft remains theft. For 200 years the rules have worked well, and now we have made a great technological leap forward and suddenly it should be abolished. These people do not know what they're talking about. To make good music you have to invest a lot. "

One of 'these people' is Dutch MEP Sargentini. It seems that she wants to uphold the Dutch controversial interpretation that downloading for personal use is legal. "The way music is used has changed and so the model for making money has to be updated. Of course people should be paid for their creation", says Sargentini, but the duration of protection should be limited. At the same time she finds that "it shouldn't be seen as given that everyone who makes art is able to make a living out of it". She finds that most people are willing to pay for music and shouldn't be criminalized.

The debate takes place in the context of the Amsterdam Dance Event, the leading electronic music conference and the biggest club festival for electronic music.  

Source: Spits (Dutch)