0.4 Music and copyright

Chapter 5: Copyright and Music

There are so many ways to buy music: CDs direct from the artist, used CDs, ripping CDs from the library or friends , downloading from peer to peer networks, iTunes, Rhapsody, even going to a store. And once you own a copy, do you own copyright in it?

By the end of this chapter, you will be able to answer:

1. How does copyright law affect the process of acquiring music?
2. How does copyright law affect how we listen to music?
3. How does copyright law affect sheet music?
4. How does copyright law affect performing music?

Q: I’ve heard that copyright is completely different for music than for other things like books or movies. Is that true?

A: No, it’s not true. The basic rules of copyright (covered in chapter 1) stay the same, and apply to all types of creativity. However, as each genre is used and distributed a bit differently, different copyright concerns are stronger in each genre. For example, since the days of Napster and Grokster, recording companies have been very concerned about the distribution of music. Book publishers, however, are more concerned about significant portions of their books being re-produced in other books. Every form of creativity has its own concerns; that’s why a chapter will be dedicated to each of the forms: music, movies, and art.

Q: Has the Internet and downloading changed copyright?

A: No, but yes. If you look at how music producers viewed potential music pirating activity in 1985 in comparison with today, then the answer is yes. Music distribution companies – those that manufacture, ship, and profit from the CDs and ringtones – are much more concerned with pirating activity than they used to be (probably by 1000%). But, the law of copyright has not changed. An infringing copy was just as infringing in 1985 as in 2011. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 added protection for software that prevents excess copying of a CD. It made it illegal to bypass this software, or share information on how to bypass it.

• I. How does copyright law affect the process of acquiring music?

Q. I’ve been buying my music from iTunes for five years now. I know it’s a legal way to buy music, but now one of my friends says that “DRM” keeps me from really owning it. What gives?

A: You’re right: buying music from iTunes is legal. And your friend is right – up until 2008. In the earlier years of iTunes, songs from it came not only with purchase agreements (also known as click-through licenses), but they also had DRM, or Digital Rights Management, packaged with them. There are many forms of DRM. Most keep the buyer from making unlimited copies of the song, or from playing it on more than a set number of devices. DRM was developed to fight the “Napster effect” of digitized songs being shared with thousands of other people. In 2007, Apple began to remove DRM from some of the songs sold on iTunes. In 2008, Apple initiated a policy that DRM would not be used unless the producer of the song demanded it. Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, wrote an interesting essay about iTunes and DRM called “Thoughts on Music”. (Jobs 2007, 1)