I just finished reading this article by Loreena McKennitt

Pirates are killing musicians, composers, lyricists, even popcorn vendors - Winnipeg Free Press

I was compelled to comment, but expecting that it will be too long to actually publish I'm translanting it here.
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I find the prefixing of "user rights" with "so-called" to be quite offensive. For you to achieve your wish of things being fair, there needs to be a balance.

Yes, artists need to be able to sustain themselves so that they can be free to continue to be artists. That means the artists need an audience, the consumer. Anytime money exchanges hands you have to think of it like a contract. I give you my money to get something in return. If I feel like I'm not getting my moneys worth, or I don't like the terms of the contract I'm not going to sign. Thats the free market at work.

Historically, purchasing music from the artists meant you only had the choice of popular physical media and the perception of the consumer was that good portion of the cost was in physical production process. As technology came along that cut out so many middle men (physical mastering, shipping, storefronts and even traditional distributors) the perception in the consumers mind is that the costs have gone down and then so should the price. But it hasn't. The only thing they have achieved with digital downloads is the option not to purchase components they don't want.

Now the message is that we the consumer are "buying a licence to listen". To me that means I'm renting. If I rent something, I pay less for it then if I were to own it. If the price if right, I'll accept that contract.

In fact I actually prefer the renting concept. As a technological slanted individual, I realize that quality and access will improve over time. I'd hate to have to "buy" something over and over again.

Now what I've not commented on is pirating. That is a problem with society. There will always be a contingent of freeloaders, regardless of the laws that are in place but I tend to think that most people who download music are doing it because the terms of the 'contract' don't work for them. The others, well, laws can't fix a flawed conscience.

There is also a problem with the "economy of abundance". With so many artists and their creations to choose from, the collection of all works as a whole diminishes their perceived individual value. This problem only increases as the ratio of creators to consumers constricts, and by creators I mean outside of one particular category. There is a limited attention span and disposable free time and money. Someone who creates a killer iced cappuccino might just be capturing my attention that could have been available to the music industry just a day before.

So before we start implementing laws to make things "fair", I think we should first take a look at trying to find balance in an radically changing economy of time and money.