Introduction As technology improves, the current laws about intellectual property and copyright are being challenged. Copying of nearly everything, from sound, to text, to video is made simple with computers, the Internet, scanners, CD burners and other technology. Specifically, this paper examines how the conflicts between intellectual property laws and technology are affecting the music industry. The U. S. Department of Commerce estimated in the 1980 s the worldwide value of pirated music to be $1.
2 billion annually (Benko 33).
The International Intellectual Property Alliance estimated Unites States losses in the recorded music industry due to piracy at $600 million per year in the 1980 s and the numbers are certainly higher now (Benko 33).
There is obviously a lot at stake for those who are involved with the music industry. This paper will introduce the reader to a complex world of intellectual property, copyright, technology, and the music industry as well as attempt to show how all of these areas intertwine and connect. The reader can choose how they wish to read the paper, but I will include a recommended path to follow for the fullest effect. If you are interested in printed the full text of the paper, please use this copy.
To clear up any confusion about terms used in the paper, start with the Definitions section. The paper is then divided into sections including a Literature Review, Discussion and Conclusion. The Literature Review encompasses the current intellectual property laws (including international laws and domestic laws), technology and its abilities (analog to digital, the Internet, and MP 3), and the effects on the music industry (artists views, record company views, and views of fans).
This Essay Discusses The Future Of The Music Industry From
This essay discusses the future of the music industry from a technical point of view, probing into details such as Napster case verdict, iPods, iTunes and next generation audio delivery formats. The Music Industry A Futuristic Look Although only a miniscule percentage of music presently sold is also distributed digitally, downloads, subscription services, ringtones and ringbacks are expected to ...
Definitions Before analyzing issues regarding this complex topic, it may help to understand some of the most commonly used terms.
For example, there is a difference between intellectual property and copyright. Intellectual Property or Copyright? Intellectual property is a broad term covering human’s work of all kinds. Some intellectual property, that which are literary and artistic works, can be copyrighted. Copyrights are used to protect the use of intellectual property.
Many types of work can be copyrighted including: o literary works (writings of many kinds) o musical works (this includes popular music) o choreographic works o artistic works (regardless of purpose) o maps and technical drawings o photographic works o audiovisual works (things such as movies) o derivative works o databases o applied art o computer programs The United States Constitution gives Congress the power to grant authors (a broad term designating creators of works) certain rights regarding their works in order to “promote the progress of science and the useful arts” (Article 1, Section 8).
Copyrights are used to protect the “expression of ideas,” not specifically ideas themselves (Benko 3).
For example, a person who writes a song about Alma College can copyright that specific song, but that person is not the only one who can make songs about Alma College. Title 17 of the United States Code (U. S. C.
) deals specifically with copyrights. The laws surrounding copyright will be discussed more extensively in the Literature Review section. There are three basic requirements for a work to be copyrighted including fixation, originality, and expression (Strong 2).
A work is “fixed” if it is “sufficiently permanent or stable to permit it to be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated for a period of more than transitory duration” (17 U. S. C.
The Essay on Censorship In Music Children Artists Problems
"Congress shall make no law... abridging the freedom of speech." (United States Constitution) However, it seems almost everywhere; many forms of art are being unfairly censored. One such form that is often overlooked as art is music. "Music is probably the most censored of all art forms" (The Economist; p 73) There are hundreds of artists who have been unfairly censored, ranging from popular music ...
ss 101).
Basically, a work must be in a form that could be copied in order to receive protection from unauthorized copying. It is also useful to note that the U. S.
C. maintains that a work is protected by copyright if it is “fixed by any method now known or later developed” or even if the work can be perceived only “with the aid of a machine or device,” such as a compact disc being played on a player (17 U. S. C. ss 101).
Originality states that a work must owe it origins to the person claiming to be the author. It does not imply though, that “a work must be new, startling, novel, or unusual” (McCarthy 229).
It just must not be a copy of someone else’s work. The idea of expression is that which was discussed earlier. In order to be copyrighted, a work must be a specific expression of an idea, not just an idea.
The conditions of idea expression are found in 17 U. S. C. ss 102 (b).
The Music Industry It will also be useful to give a definition of “the music industry.” For the sake of this paper, the music industry is divided up into three different categories. The three divisions include the artists, the record companies, and music fans.
Artists are the people who initially create the work (music and lyrics), these artists can include bands, individuals, musicians, and songwriters. The record companies are organizations who “sign” artists to work for them. The artist signs a contract where generally, the record companies agree to promote and distribute works if the artist agrees to give up the copyrights of their music to the company. If the record company promotes the work effectively, it will sell well in the stores. In return for the promotion, a percentage of the money from the purchase goes to the record company and another percentage will go to the artist. The other costs including the making of the work are also covered by the price the consumer pays.
The consumer, the third part of “the music industry,” supports both the record companies and the artists when they purchase things like CDs, tapes, and other related merchandise. These are the traditional roles of the industry, as referred to in this paper. Literature Review Current Copyright Laws Laws regarding intellectual property are in place to protect expression of ideas as well as economic well-being of companies, like record companies, who are dependent on intellectual property as a product to be sold. Estimations have reported that “the theft of intellectual property rights in the United States cost over $300 billion dollars in 1997 alone” (Hsieh 1).
The Term Paper on Copyright Laws
What copyright is may be summed up as: 3.1 [...] a type of property right which is founded on a person's creative skill and labour. It is designed to prevent the unauthorised use by others of a work, that is, the original form in which an idea or information has been expressed by the creator. 3.2 Copyright is not a tangible thing. It is made up of a bundle of exclusive economic rights to do ...
International Laws To understand all of the issues relating to intellectual property, technology, and music, one must first be familiar with the current laws regarding copyright. The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has international standards for intellectual property and has most jurisdiction over international agreements, but there is no “official” body to enforce intellectual property laws.
The WIPO encourages member nations, including the U. S. , to make and update their domestic laws to protect intellectual property and also encourages cooperation between member nations by centralizing the administration of such laws. There are currently 171 members.
No specific international laws regulate worldwide copyright protection, it is dependent on individual nations’ laws, but there are generally accepted agreements between nations. The Berne Convention was an original agreement regarding intellectual property. It has been in effect since 1886, with the WIPO administering it. Berne covers protection of literary and artistic works very broadly and establishes three main principles: national treatment, n conditional protection, and protection independent of the existence of protection in the country of origin.
Notably though, the United States never signed the Berne Convention. There have been various other international treaties and conventions regarding copyright and intellectual property laws that the U. S. has signed and which specifically discuss music and copyright. The Geneva Convention, Convention for the Protection of Producers of Phonograms Against Unauthorized Duplication of Their Phonogram, and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty all deal with intellectual property. The WIPO treaties have been adopted as law in the form of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act in the United States, that will be discussed in the Domestic Laws section.
The Term Paper on Copyright Laws Napster And Personal Ethics
... of the lawsuits and the controversy surrounding Napster and digital copyright laws, the Internet user must determine how to ethically decide on the ... go out and purchase the album after obtaining a digital copy of the music. The sound will not degenerate and ... compressed formats with copyright protection built-in, but I don't think that these solutions will work. Internet users with technical know- ...
Domestic Laws Title 17 of the Unites States Code (U. S. C. ) contains the copyright laws of the United States in substantial detail.
This section of the law explains how copyright laws work in the United States. There are many sections and clauses, so I will discuss only those which are particularly relevant to the topic. W hen an author creates work they are granted exclusive rights to do and authorize certain things. Copyright holders are entitled to certain rights under the law (17 U. S. C.
ss 106) including: 1. to reproduce the copyrighted work in copies or phonorecords; 2. to prepare derivative works based upon the copyrighted work; 3. to distribute copies or phonorecords of the copyrighted work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending; 4. in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and motion pictures and other audiovisual works, to perform the copyrighted work publicly; 5.
in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and pictorial, graphic, or sculptural works, including the individual images of a motion picture or other audiovisual work, to display the copyrighted work publicly; and 6. in the case of sound recordings, to perform the copyrighted work publicly by means of a digital audio transmission. In areas like book publishing and music, the author usually signs over his or her rights to the work, making the publisher or record company the owner of the copyright. This entitles the company to all of the rights of a copyright holder. There are some rights for users of copyrighted material, but they are limited to exceptions made for “fair use.” Title 17 Section 107 deals with “fair use.” Whether something is “fair use” is based on four main criteria and three tests (Tala b 20).
The four criteria are the purpose and character of the use, the nature of the copyrighted work, the amount and substantiality of the material used, and the effect of the use on the potential market of the work. The three tests used for judging fair use are brevity (amount copied), spontaneity (was there enough time to have asked for permission), and cumulative effect (the overall effect on the potential market of an author from unauthorized copying).
The Term Paper on Music Business Copyrighted Work
... copyrighted work publicly by means of a digital audio transmission.The Internet is the way of the future in a big way in the music ... actually touch the music. They provide a way for one user to look into another users personal computer and download audio files from their ...
These exceptions provide room for educational purposes, libraries, and some other non-profit uses. There is also the “first sale doctrine” which gives the original user (purchaser) the distribution rights to the copyrighted work (such as a CD).
Section 109 of the U.
S. Code gives the specifics of the law. Some important factors of the law are the fact that only the distribution right is given to the owner, not any others such as performance. For example, a if a person purchases a video, the first sale doctrine does not cover the public showing of that video.
Also, if the owner rents copyrighted material to a friend, that friend does not have the first sale rights of distribution, so they cannot copy and sell it. The United States updated its laws recently with the passage of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act on October 28, 1998. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) strengthened some weaknesses in Title 17 of the Unites States Code regarding effects of new technology on intellectual property and copyright. The DMCA set up new regulations to deal with technology and copyright laws, much to the happiness of those with interests in the music industry and copyright defenders. (Garnett, Holland, Bergman, Federal).
The DCMA (which is officially titled as “A bill to amend title 17, United States Code, to implement the World Intellectual Property Organization Copyright Treaty and Performances and Phonograms Treaty”) included a few important sections to those with interests in digital music. Full text of the bill can be found here on the U. S. Government’s Thomas website. Section 103 prohibits the “circumvention of technological measures that control access to protected works; or manufacturing or trafficking in technology designed to circumvent measures that control access to, or protect rights of copyright owners in, such works.” The bill implements into U.
S. law all the specifics of the Performances and Phonograms Treaty. The DCMA also establishes limited liability for: 1. entities offering the transmission, routing, or providing of connections for digital online communications between points specified by a user of material of the user’s choosing, without modification of the material; and 2. providers of online services or network access.
Areas of U. S. law dealing with intellectual property and copyright in this “Digital World” were specified and strengthened with the passage of the DCMA. Technology and Its Abilities Technology has always presented a challenge to copyright laws, but the challenge has never been as difficult as now in the “Digital Age.” Music fans have always been able to circumvent copyright laws with analog taping of vinyl records and illegal pressing of records, but the change to digital formats complicate the issue.
The Essay on The Effect Of Digital Technology On The Music Industry
Nowadays, teenagers are living constantly surrounded by technology. Even if the younger generation may not see it, technology has had an impact on different factors. The widespread use of digital technology in the music industry has allowed consumers to reproduce digital versions of copyrighted songs inexpensively, with the help of many software and websites. There has been an increase in digital ...
The change in format from vinyl records and tapes to compact discs (CDs) and digital audio technology (DAT) has impacted the quality of illegal copies of music. Also, the Internet, with its millions of users and ease of sharing files is a challenge to copyright legislation. Now, with the introduction of a hot new format (MP 3 files), technology is allowing users to quickly and easily bypass copyright laws regarding music. Analog — > Digital Digital technology allows for a clarity and quality not found in the old style of tape copying. While a tape would eventually wear out and copies of copies would gradually lose quality, digital copying eliminates these problems. While the first illegally copied CDs were copied from vinyl records (along with the crackles and pops of a record), digital noise reduction helped the quality of the recording (Schwartz Strange).
Instead of taping from records and losing quality because of surface noise, music copied and stored in digital to digital form does not reduce quality. Schwartz states in his article, “[d]digital transfers could vastly increase the bootlegger’s ability to faithfully reproduce recordings by stealing from other bootleggers.” A CD can be copied onto another CD an infinite number of times without ever having a loss of quality (as long as the user avoids scratching the CD surface).
The Internet The Internet poses quite a threat to copyright laws, especially in the areas of illegal music copying and distribution. The Internet is made up of millions of sites with millions of users potentially viewing those sites daily. It is very easy for users to download information from other peoples’s ites and in many cases this activity is not easily monitored. A user with a personal web page may also upload files to the server where the page is located and then allow other users to copy that file, regardless of the fact that it may be copyrighted.
Heather Fleming sums up the problem very clearly by stating that “the ease and speed by which music, video and text can be copied and distributed over the information superhighway have owners of intellectual property scared” (Fleming 20).
Networks of computers also pose a problem when looking at copyright and file sharing. The Alma College campus, for example, has a network of student’s personal computers. This network allows users to “share” files with the whole network, or with specific users by including a password.
These shared files are stored on the individual computers, but can be accessed by any network user (as long as there is not a password).
A quick check around users’s hared files reveals a large amount of MP 3 files, the controversial audio format. MP 3 “For some, the MP 3 format is a dream come true. But, for others, it’s a nightmare of epic proportions” (Powell Legal).
What is this controversial wonder? Well, MP 3, short for Motion Pictures Expert Group, audio layer 3, is simply a way of storing music in digital form. In 1988, the Moving Pictures Expert Group (MPEG) was formed in order to create a standard format for the compression and decompression (codec) of digital audio.
The result was the standard MPEG 1, a success for the creators, but quite a problem for the music industry today. There are two main reasons why the MP 3 format is causing problems for the music industry and copyrighted works — the rate and quality of the compression. The MPEG codec format has a 12 – 1 compression rate, which is the primary reason for related legal problems with MP 3 s. The compression allows for large sound files to be compressed into much smaller files that will take up much less storage space and allows for quick up / downloading .
A 12 – 1 compression rate just means that files which may take up 36 megabytes of space can be shrunk down to about 3 megabytes. It would be similar to a 120 page book that is compressed to only 10 pages, without any loss of quality. The key to the MP 3 format though, is that when a file is compressed, it is “maintaining perceived sound quality” (Powell Legal).
More than 15 years of research and development by the MPEG resulted in the technology that maintains quality but takes up less space by “stripping out overlapping waveforms” (Powell Legal).
The relatively small file size allows users to easily store hundreds of MP 3 s on their hard drives as well as easily add to their collection by quickly downloading new files from the Internet or computers on a local network. Once on a computer, a person would need an MP 3 player to listen to the sound files. These players available for downloading off the Internet; the most popular are Winamp (for Windows) and MacAM P (for Macintosh).
Now you can play your MP 3 s, but soon most people would like to start making their own. Rippers are available for this task.
Rippers, like MusicMatch Jukebox 3. 0, are also available to download off the Internet. These rippers allow users to take individual tracks from CDs and convert them into MP 3 format, which can then be stored on their computer or posted on their personal web page. Here is where the problems begin, though. According to intellectual property laws, people who do not own the copyright to a work do not have the right to copy and distribute that work. How this problem is being dealt with and responded to will be discussed later in the Effects on the Music Industry and Discussion sections.
Adam Powell points out that today it may seem strange that the group developing the technology did not think about copyright as an issue, but we must keep in mind that at the time, the creators did not envision millions of computers with relatively huge storage capabilities all liked to one large network like the Internet (Transformation).
The topic of copyrights and the music industry lead to the next section, Effects on the Music Industry. Effects on the Music Industry The music industry, as defined for this paper in the Definitions section, has definitely been shaken up by technology, especially MP 3 s. First, I will look at the view of artists on the positives and negatives of technology, then I will examine the views of the record companies, and lastly examine the role and views of the fans and consumers of music. Artists Views Recording artists interests are understandably divided on the issue of technology. While the Internet can allow many people to listen to and become fans of an artist, it also allows for illegal distribution and copying of the artists’s songs, resulting in a substantial loss of money for the artist.
Some popular artists, such as Chuck D (of Public Enemy), the Beastie Boys, They Might Be Giants, and Garbage, have released MP 3 s of some sort on the Internet for fans to download, but the artists signed to record companies are ultimately under the control of their record company. For example, the Beastie Boys, released live tracks and B sides to promote their latest album release, Hello Nasty. But Capitol, the band’s record label, persuaded the band to take down the songs. Fred Goodman reports in Rolling Stone that the reason was “[u]nail the big record companies agree on a secure delivery system – one that allows them to get paid for Internet downloads and that limits how those songs are used – they don’t want to encourage unsecured music on the Internet” (Goodman 25).
Steve Marker, member of the Grammy-nominated band Garbage who have put up rarities on their site, feels that the technology is “a cool way to distribute things that otherwise may not get released. In the process of recording, you end up with a lot of odds and ends that may be of interest to fans but aren’t necessarily something you want to put out as an official release” (Goodman 25).
Chuck D, who is well known for being unhappy with his former record label and embraces the technology of the Internet, accurately portrayed the fears of the record companies at the New York Music & Internet Expo when he joked that the lawyers at record labels “are like, ‘Sire! Sire There is an MP 3 on the horizon! They are coming quick!’ ” (Sullivan Chuck D).
For small, unsigned bands, MP 3 can be a very efficient way of distributing music to new listeners and potentially have more benefits than for larger bands. Because “in a world where all but a handful of performers are denied access to radio and MTV, and even fewer get a meaningful marketing budget, MP 3 exposure is one of the few new tools artists can seize to build an audience” (Goodman 38).
An unsigned New York band called Fire Ants have had one of the most popular songs on mp 3. com’s rock site.
The band has found that their popularity has skyrocketed since gaining exposure on the site (Goodman 25, Jones Making It).
Eric Massimino, of the band felt that “the Net has helped Fire Ants develop a following that might take years to establish via the traditional, convoluted network that is the music industry” (Jones Making It).
Mp 3. com is a site which, at the last check, claimed to have over 18, 000, 000 songs to download.
The site allows bands to post songs for site visitors to download freely and has avoided legal trouble, because artists agree to have their songs posted on mp 3. com. Record Company Viewpoints “Cyberspace poses unparalleled opportunities for the industry — and unparalleled difficulties in copyright protection” (RIAA Piracy).
This quote, from part of the Recording Industry Association’s web page, sums up the view of many of the record companies on technology. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), a trade association, was formed in 1951 to combat unauthorized record manufacturers.
Today, the RIAA’s web page states that “[p]er haps the most important mission of the RIAA is to protect the creative content of our member companies and their artists through an aggressive anti-piracy program” (RIAA Piracy).
The RIAA’s membership includes the Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG), EMI-Capitol Music Group North America, Sony Music Entertainment, Time Life Music, Universal, and Warner Music Group. These are essentially six of the largest record companies in North America who are have nearly all popular music artists on their rosters. The RIAA is working with 110 other companies to enact the Secure digital music Initiative (SDMI) as a standard to have secure control over the distribution of digital music.
SDMI The RIAA explains that the SDMI “will answer consumer demand for convenient accessibility to quality digital music, enable copyright protection for artists’ work, and enable technology and music companies to build successful businesses” (RIAA SDMI).
The SDMI is still in the planning stages, but is on a “fast path toward expanding [the] digital music marketplace” (RIAA SDMI).
The SDMI has the support of not just record companies, but technology and business oriented companies who are willing to pay the initial $10, 000 fee to join the SDMI talks and organization. Included on the list of companies now involved with the SDMI talks are CD Now, Compaq Corp. , Microsoft, Philips, Sanyo, Sony Electronics, Sun Microsystems, Texas Instruments, and Yamaha, among others.
Just this short list (there are about 110 participating organizations), shows the variety of companies who feel that there is a need for a standard for digital music distribution. A draft of the SDMI Foundation’s General Principals states: o 1. 1 The lack of an open and interoperable standard for security is a significant impediment to the growth of legitimate markets for the digital delivery of copyrighted recorded music. The SDMI Foundation was formed by the worldwide recording community to develop a Specification for the secure distribution and use of music in digital form that meets the needs of the worldwide recording community and its customers. By supporting a wide variety of agreements between rights owners and consumers, such a Specification will enable multiple new and flexible models to emerge in the marketplace. o 1.
2 The Specification will only be successful if it meet the technical constraints and needs of, and is widely accepted by, the technology industries and their customers. Thus it is hoped that multi-industry dialogue through SDMI will lead to a Specification representing consensus of a broad range of participants in the technology and recording industries. In striving toward that goal, it is expected that SDMI will operate by substantial consensus. o 1. 3 The SDMI Specification is to be a voluntary specification. It will be up to each company in the technology and recording industries to decide for itself, in light of the demands of the marketplace, whether and to what extent it will implement that Specification in its products.
These statements reflect the underlying concern of the record companies – they want to have secure distribution to control the loss of money from illegal copying and distribution now found on the Internet. The RIAA has taken other steps against new technology in the form of lawsuits and threats when they feel their (money-making) interests are in danger. These will be discussed in the next section, The Rio and Lycos’s earch Engine. The Rio and Lycos’s earch Engine The Rio is a palm size portable MP 3 player.
If you were interested in making your mp 3 files more portable, you could purchase a Rio. The page linked to above, is Diamond Multimedia’s (the makers of the Rio) page advertising and selling the Rio. The Rio stores up to 60 minutes of music, will never skip like a CD player, and runs for up to 12 hours on one AA battery. Controversy surrounds this product, of course, as it makes the already popular legal and illegal mp 3 s more popular because it allows them to be portable. On October 9, 1998, when the Rio was introduced, the RIAA filed a restraining order to delay the release of the player, but it was released shortly after anyway. The RIAA’s main problem with the Rio is that it allows users to play illegal MP 3 files.
Another issue which the RIAA was concerned about was the use of the Rio to upload MP 3 files onto other PCs. The makers of the Rio claimed its product could not do this, but Webmonkey reports that software already exists to use the Rio in this way, enabling the further illegal distribution of illegal songs (Powell Legal).
Lycos also came under the fire for their MP 3 search engine. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) of London has started proceedings against FAST Search & Transfer ASA, a Norwegian company that licensed the search engine to Lycos. In the past, the IFPI had only targeted individual sites on the Internet that had posted illegal MP 3 files, but has now taken action against the search engine that the IFPI claims finds mostly illegal copies of popular artists. Benefits to Record Companies Some record companies are embracing the Internet and MP 3 technology.
Smaller, independent labels use the new technology to find more potential listeners and buyers. GoodNoise is one example of this trend. GoodNoise allows users to download music of artists on their label and six other labels. The GoodNoise site allows users to sample and then purchase individual tracks or whole albums to download onto their computer. Affiliated companies include Fingerprint, Luna Sea, Propellant Transmissions, Rykodisc, spin ART, and Van Richter record companies. Views of Music Fans and Consumers Technology allows music fans to easily find new bands, but also allows fans to easily break the law and copy and distribute already well-known bands songs in MP 3 form.
Some people will obviously take advantage of the technology to obtain and exchange illegal copies of their favorite songs. Others though may use the technology to find new bands, purchase their CDs, and therefore support the traditional record companies. The mentality of some is that the big “music companies profit by charging huge sums for a small piece of plastic: why not show them that others can steal, too?” (Economist “Copyrights”).
Many individuals all applying this mentality can have implications though. Wired News reported that there has been a drop in the proportion of purchases by 15- to 24- year olds (32. 2% in 1996 to 28% in 1998).
The RIAA claims that MP 3 files may be responsible for the drop in this important market (Wired Cutting).
These implications brought about by users of illegal MP 3 s help to explain the record companies’ concern about the possibilities of the MP 3 format. The success of a band like the Fire Ants, though, is dependent on users downloading a track or two for free and then deciding whether or not to purchase the CD. The potential for users to download an MP 3 (even an illegal one) and then decide to purchase an album is still there, but is probably reduced if all material is available for free on the Internet. Discussion While there are many debates about what is going on with copyright laws and technology, one thing is clear: change is inevitable.
For better or worse, with every new technology, new regulations seem to appear. And, whether we agree with it or not, regulations are already in the works for digital music. I believe that the area of regulation is where most of the questions in the future will be found. Changes of format have occurred in the past (see analog — > digital), but have never posed such a threat to the traditional music industry. In some cases, the changes in format in the past may have helped the music industry, as people demanded the new format to replace the old and so had to purchase new records, tapes, or CDs. In the case of digital music and the possibilities it entails, the challenge to recording companies and artists seems to be if they can handle and adapt to the changes in technology.
Instead of the record companies controlling or encouraging the changes, they seem to be focused on catching up and attempting to stop the inevitable. One of the central questions raised by the issue of digital music is how it should be regulated and to what degree. Here is where you get multiple points of views, with two extremes. There are those who are interested in protecting intellectual property and copyright with any measure and those who think that the system is outdated and that the laws should be changed to reflect a different approach. Record companies usually fall into the former group, while music fans are in the latter (with some exceptions, of course).
Those with a vested interest in copyright protection seem, for the most part, to be those who have monetary interests involved.
With millions of dollars at stake for record companies, strong regulation is favored. The SDMI is a start at this regulation, but, it seems to come too late. There are still so many illegal copies of music floating around that regulation and enforcement now will be difficult. Others, namely music fans, rejoice in the possibilities of the new technology. It is very appealing to be able to not have to buy new CDs and just wait for someone to upload them to the Internet or a network. But, the fact does remain that under current laws, much of fan activity is illegal.
One could argue that “music should be free,” and that this would only enhance the quality of music people listen to as the performers would not be as interested in the monetary rewards of “making it big.” But, this is a rather utopian vision not likely to occur. Personally, as a huge music fan, I really enjoy listening to a wide variety of music without ever having to purchase a CD, but it is easy to understand the frustrations of the RIAA and artists who are concerned about the sales of CDs. As with anything, the MP 3 craze is too good to be true. I think that regulations will become more strict, though enforcement will be difficult, eventually digital music will become as regulated as CDs are now. Record companies might have to make some changes, but I do not think that they will cease to exist or lose power. As noted in the list of companies who are interested in the SDMI, the interests of record companies are not the only ones represented.
Also, the laws are slow to change and less stringent laws are probably not a possibility as those with the interests will lobby for stronger laws, not more lenient laws. Conclusion Hopefully, this paper presented a clear view of how intellectual property, technology, and music all relate. There is a lot at stake for many people with interests in any one of the three areas when looking at possible regulation and laws, this paper was just a glimpse of that. MP 3 controversies are reported on almost daily in Wired News’s section devoted exclusively to MP 3 s. Technology offers ever expanding possibilities, but the consequences (good or bad) are still being determined. There are obvious challenges for all those with interests in any of the areas and it will be interesting to see how these challenges are dealt with as there are many different views on what should happen.
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