Archive for July 15th, 2005
Copyright Office’s Music Licensing Testimony
"At its inception, the compulsory license facilitated the availability of music to the listening public. However, the evolution of technology and business practices has eroded the effectiveness of this provision. Despite several attempts to amend the compulsory license and the Copyright Office’s regulations, the use of the section 115 compulsory license, other than as a de facto ceiling on privately negotiated rates, has remained at an almost non-existent level.
"There is no debate that section 115 needs to be reformed to ensure that the United States’ vibrant music industry can continue to flourish in the digital age. Because section 115 and its predecessor have rarely been used as functioning compulsory licenses and have served simply as a ceiling on the royalty rate in privately negotiated licenses, it has placed artificial limits on the free marketplace."
Marybeth Peters. Statement of Marybeth Peters, The Register of Copyrights Before the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary: Music Licensing Reform. U.S. Copyright Office. July 12, 2005.
See also:
Marybeth Peters. Statement of Marybeth Peters, The Register of Copyrights Before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary. U.S. Copyright Office. June 21, 2005.
Marybeth Peters. Register’s Testimony on Music Licensing Reform before the House Committee on the Judiciary: Music Licensing Reform. (Real Audio) U.S. Copyright Office. June 21, 2005.
Downloads Up Nearly 200 Percent
“U.S. music downloaders paid for 158 million songs during the first six months of 2005, almost three times the number acquired legally in the first half of 2004.
“However, the figures, from Nielsen SoundScan, reveal that the growth in legal downloads has yet to compensate the music industry for falling CD sales. Sales of albums were down seven per cent year on year, to 282.6m units, said Nielsen.”
Tony Smith. U.S. Legal Music Downloads Up 187%. The Register. July 14, 2005.
Australian Court Makes Linking Illegal
“It took almost two years but major record labels in Australia have finally won a legal battle against a Queensland man and his Internet Service Provider for alleged music piracy. Stephen Cooper, operator of the mp3s4free Web site, was found guilty of copyright infringement by Federal Court Justice Brian Tamberlin.
“Although Cooper didn’t host pirated recordings per se, the court found he breached the law by creating hyperlinks to sites that had infringing sound recordings.”
Steven Deare. Judge: MP3 Site, ISP Breached Copyright. ZDNet Australia. July 14, 2005.
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