From M/Cyclopedia of New Media
Digital Music Legal Issues
- Intellectual property was never a black and white issue and now in the digital age it has become even more complicated. This is because information goods, like digital music, can now be copied cheaply and distributed over the internet in the blink of an eye (Hakfoort, 2002, p63-64).
- There are four forms of intellectual property. They are; patent, design, trademark and copyright. Copyright is the form of intellectual property most affected by new media technologies as it relates to writing, visual images, moving images and music, which can all be copied easily and distributed online (Australian Copyright Council – Online Information Centre, 2003).
- Copyright can be retained for entire songs or sound recordings in Australia under the Copyright Act of 1968 and as a result of the Berne Convention Australian music is protected by copyright in most other countries (Australian Copyright Council, 2002). The Berne Convention was created in 1896 and has been updated several times since then, most recently in 1971. It is a joint agreement with nations that are members of the UN to protect literary and artistic works abroad (Dept. Foreign Affairs, 1995).
- Copyright of sound recordings is considered to be infringed if part of the sound recording is used and that part is considered to be important to the work. This part doesn’t have to be a large part, “it’s a question of fact and degree in each case� (Australian Copyright Council, 2002). In order for somebody to use a sample from an existing song the need to ask permission from the record company. Unfortunately for many this is not as easy as it seems.
- The World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) is an international body that is dedicated to protecting and promoting artistic works (WIPO - About, 2004). WIPO has recently introduced the Copyright Treaty and the Performances and Phonograms Treaty which were specifically designed to deal with online copyright issues. These treaties provide artists with new defenses from online intellectual property theft. They make it illegal to remove the copy protection put in place by an artist or to promote products designed to do so. This includes programs designed copy songs from copy protected CDs (WIPO - Intellectual Property Treaties, 2004).
- In October 1998 the US Congress passed the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and was put in place to support the WIPO Treaties. The DMCA criminalises “production and dissemination of technology that can circumvent measures taken to protect copyright� and “heightens the penalties for copyright infringement on the Internet� (wikipedia.org, 2004). The restrictions it places upon the general public has been a cause of concern for many activist groups, including online group anti-dmca.org.
- Anti-dmca.org claims that the DMCA was badly written and protects the rights of corporations more than it protects the rights of the public. They also dislike the fact that payment will now be required to access a lot of information that was formerly in the public domain. This information includes books, journals and music. Lastly they state that copyright was originally put in place in order to increase the amount of information available to the public but the DMCA appears to be restricting that amount of information, not increasing it (anti-dmca.org, 2004).
References
Print Resources
- Hakfoort, J. (2002) "Copyright In The Digital Age: The Economic Rationale Re-examined". In Towse, R. (Ed). Copyright In The Cultural Industries (pp. 63-84). Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited.
Internet Resources
Bronwen Loden 18:01, 28 Oct 2004 (EST)
back to Indie Music Online
