Copyright Law thinking forward

[MichaelL]

The US Department of Commerce Internet Policy Task Force, has been studying issues surrounding copyrights and the Internet for a number of years. It has just released a 122 page “green paper” on the subject in advance of a public meeting scheduled for the end of this month.

This sort of meeting is preliminary to changes in policy affecting copyrights. How, or when, those changes will occur, I do not know.
The general direction of the paper is that changes in technology argue heavily in favor of changes in copyright law.

One chapter specifically addresses issues of music licensing on-line. Some of the areas discussed include differences between mechanical and performing royalties, and whether the anti-trust restrictions, which prevent the PROs from collecting mechanicals should be relaxed. Overall, the tone seems to be in favor of moving things in the direction that will benefit rights owners.

There is even some discussion about copyright law with respect to things like mixes and mash-ups, and the need to foster innovation. Again, this is a reflection of the recognition that technology has changed the way things are done.

There’s also a section on piracy, which has been a hot topic here. By one count there are at least 2,000 sites selling pirated music. I guess we just uncovered the tip of the iceberg.

Bottom-line: My best guess is that the law will catch up to the industry sometime in the next decade.

_MichaelL

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