Mathew's comments - Latest Comments in Music law: Boring but important

Re: Music law: Boring but important

mathewi — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 16:33:01 -0000

Um, thanks Ben :-)

I'm not sure about having a leg to stand on -- there have been
decisions and rulings in the past that suggested streaming and/or
downloads might be considered a reproduction. I still think it's
primarily a negotiating tactic.

Re: Music law: Boring but important

mathewi — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 16:31:01 -0000

I think that's exactly what they have in mind, Karoli.

Re: Music law: Boring but important

Ben Lucier — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 16:29:43 -0000

You're right, that was boring. Still important, regardless. It seems pretty clear to me that Sony doesn't have a leg to stand on. So if Sony told Harry Fox to stop licensing content, what's next for them? What will the fallout be?

Re: Music law: Boring but important

Karoli — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 16:26:06 -0000

Mathew I appreciate the fact that you're following this issue and continuing to write about it. It's a really pivotal time for music and musicians, and the issues are very complex.

This sounds like Sony is trying to revive the issues that were at the fore a few months ago when Congress authorized the quadrupled fees for streaming music. Is Sony's goal here to double-dip the royalty trough by trying to define streaming content as both performance and reproduction? Sure feels like it to me.