Einhorn, Michael A. --- "Music licensing in the digital age" [2002] ELECD 55; in Towse, Ruth (ed), "Copyright in the Cultural Industries" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2002)

Book Title: Copyright in the Cultural Industries

Editor(s): Towse, Ruth

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781840646610

Section: Chapter 10

Section Title: Music licensing in the digital age

Author(s): Einhorn, Michael A.

Number of pages: 13

Extract:

10. Music licensing in the digital age
Michael A. Einhorn1

10.1 INTRODUCTION
In the past six years, the US government twice modified its Copyright Act to
deal with issues posed by the digitization of music. Digital technology is now
transforming the recorded music business into an open marketing network
where audiophiles may instantly access music from signed and unsigned
artists without needing to visit local record stores. (For an overview of issues,
see Fisher (2000) and Reese (2000).) According to a recent study performed
by Jupiter Media Metrix (2001), sales of digital downloads are anticipated
to increase from $25 million in 2001 to $700 million in 2006. Subscrip-
tion revenues will increase from $4 million to $1.2 billion in the same
period.
An Internet user may deploy either of two general technologies -
downloading and streaming - to transmit recordings from a provider server to
a home computer. With downloading, a buyer may transfer a music file to a
computer hard drive that can be subsequently accessed at his or her own
personal discretion. The downloaded file can remain on the hard drive or be
transferred to a server (music locker) that can be remotely accessed. With
streaming, the user may buffer and play in real time bits that are
instantaneously received with no need for permanent storage. Depending on
whether the choice of material is exercised at user or provider discretion, file
streaming can be non-interactive or interactive. Non-interactive streaming
(webcasting) makes songs available to listeners without ...