[p2p-research] from the horse's mouth, so to speak ...

[Michel Bauwens]

excerpt from
http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/2010/07/12/panel-copyright-needed-in-music-but-should-benefit-musicians/

Intellectual Property Watch
*12 July 2010*
Panel: Copyright Needed In Music, But Should Benefit Musicians By Kaitlin
Mara <http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/author/kaitlin/> @ 5:43 pm

Copyright is critical to the survival of the music industry and its
creators, but lack of respect for copyright is not why artists are
struggling to make ends meet, argued a recent panel of media lawyers and
music industry experts. The blame for that lies squarely on the
corporate-focus of the music industry, and how it has bent copyright law to
serve companies rather than composers, said a panel at the University of
Westminster.

File-sharing too is an issue, but innovative thinking may be required to
find new ways to manage music sharing practices which have become outdated,
panellists said.

The “biggest flaw in music is not copyright, it’s business practice,” said
attorney and lecturer Ben Challis. Business practices that shift rights from
the author or song writer to companies are the reason that artists do not
get paid, he added. A fair regime would protect artists as well as the
corporate side, he added.

Copyright has “shown itself for what it truly is,” said Kienda Hoji, an
entertainment lawyer and senior lecturer at the University of Westminster.
It is a system that benefits those who want to make money, not the creators
who deserve to, he said.

They were speaking at an event called Talking Copyright: Reflecting On A 300
Year History & The Music Industry, held at the University of Westminster in
London on 15 June. The event was organised by British Black
Music<http://www.britishblackmusic.com/>,
an online resource, and the Black Music Congress, a “forum for discussing
issues around black music, networking, and a pathway to music industry
education.”

It was intended to explore whether copyright laws are robust enough for the
internet age, and if copyright awareness campaigns had lost the hearts and
minds of young music consumers.

Many examples of copyright leaving the artist behind were cited by the event
chair, Kwaku, founder of the Black Music Congress and one of the directors
of British Black Music.

Composer Solomon Linda, a South African Zulu, composed a song called “Mbube”
after the Zulu word for “lion.” The song later became famous as “The Lion
Sleeps Tonight,” which was eventually licensed to Disney for its film the
Lion King, but Linda died poor, having not seen a fraction of the money
generated by his work, said Kwaku.

A settlement in 2006 finally acknowledged – more than 45 years after Linda’s
death – the South African origin of the song, and guaranteed his heirs,
until that time living in poverty, an income, according to the World
Intellectual Property Organization
magazine<http://www.wipo.int/wipo_magazine/en/2006/02/article_0006.html>
.

And Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, an English composer, had sold his wildly
popular song Hiawatha to Novello for 15 guineas (British pounds) in the late
1800s and received no further royalties on it.
Novello<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novello_%26_Co#Novello_.26_Co>is
still collecting on it, said Kwaku.

Two model laws should be more common if artists are to fully benefit from
copyright laws, said David Stopps, the copyright & related rights director
at the International Music Managers Forum.

These are: a German law in which the transfer of copyright can only be done
by licence, which means that the rights rest fundamentally with artists; and
a United States law that limits the transfer of copyright – after 35 years
the creator has the right to get the copyright back. This could help prevent
cases where music is still under copyright yet not available to the public:
a worst-case scenario for the artist, who then cannot make money but cannot
do anything with the music either, said Stopps.

The US law went into effect in 1978, meaning 2013 is the first opportunity
for it to be used, said Stopps. Record companies are opposed, he added, so
he predicted there will be legal cases.

And some aspects of copyright are outdated, said Challis, adding that his
students were horrified that sampling from existing songs is illegal, as
they see song creation from sampling as creating a new thing.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listcultures.org/pipermail/p2presearch_listcultures.org/attachments/20100713/10ede5a3/attachment.html>