The Copyright Office's current review of statutory licensing under section 115 is spurring much needed review of music licensing and discussion, including legislation. TechDaily has an article by Andrew Noyes, " Antiquated Rule On Music Royalties Defies Reform" which observes:

Register of Copyrights Marybeth Peters said she believes new legislation is "imminent." . . .
In the meantime, the office decided to "turn itself toward focusing on the regulatory process to see if there's anything we can do that would address what reproductions are included" under existing law, Peters said.
One of the key questions debated was whether certain downloads, which are time-limited or use-limited, fit within the scope of Section 115. Stakeholders also shared thoughts on how streaming media and internal server copies fit into the equation. Speakers also discussed how to make notice requirements covered under Section 115 more functional.

Difficulties in this area stem from the fragmentation of music copyrights into performance, distribution, reproduction, and sound recordings rights (etc) and the fact that these rights reside in multiple owners. Add to this the practice of compulsory licensing, and one has a real mess particularly affecting new Internet distribution technologies.

posted by Solveig Singleton @ 10:37 AM | Internet: P2P, Search Engines..., Markets: Business, Investment & Innovation, Prices, Terms, and Licensing

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