Warner Music Group’s (WMG) third-quarter loss widened this year, to US$17 million. Warner is one of several major players in the global music industry being hit hard by the seismic repercussions the internet has held for the music business. Indeed, virtually every industry that distributes their product through traditional media has seen market changes like […]
In an unexpected move, the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) filed documents in the Federal Court of Appeal recently in a fight to eliminate the application of the private copying levy to MP3 players. The irony of this is apparent as the CRIA has advocated for the private copying levy for many years and makes […]
According to several media sources recording artist Prince (a.k.a., formerly known as The Artist Formerly Known As Prince) is prepared to sue YouTube (as well as eBay and Pirate Bay) for copyright infringement of his works. Prince is not alleging that Youtube is itself infringing on his copyright. Youtube only provides a forum for people […]
The events of early October, 2007 may herald a new age of respect for intellectual property (IP) rights. The first trial on peer to peer music file sharing pits the major record companies against a woman accused of copyright infringement, an act for which the U.S. Federal Court awarded a $220,000 judgment against her. The […]
Aristotle once said “that which is common to the greatest number has the least care bestowed upon it.” This idea has subsequently evolved into the modern concept of Tragedy of the Commons (or not quite modern – the term in fact dates back to an 1833 study of medieval land holdings). The concept itself is […]
Cross border transactions are a hot topic in today’s legal community. However, picture a very different type of border and a very different type of transaction. The dispute is real, the border vague, and the substance is, well, virtual. On May 1, 2006 Marc Bragg, a Pennsylvania lawyer, launched an action against Linden Labs Research […]
Warner Music Group’s recent announcement about wider losses in the third quarter, due to an increasing trend of consumers switching to digital downloads, highlights the changing nature of the music industry. Even as Warner posted higher overall losses due largely to the decline in CD sales, its digital revenues were up 29% from the […]
When a French teen becomes the target of police and is subjected to their interrogation while spending a night behind bars, one would imagine that perhaps the teen had committed a serious criminal act. Not so in this case. In July 2007, just a few days after the final Harry Potter novel was released in […]
On August 27, 2007, the International Herald Tribune published an article by Dan Mitchell titled “Micropayments arrive on the Web.” This piece examined the evolution and reemergence of the use of small user fees, known as micropayments, in exchange for content on the internet. After reading Mitchell’s article, the main question that comes to mind […]
It is virtually impossible to prohibit users from uploading any type of video on YouTube, including uploading parts or all of a musicians’ music video. Even when artists request YouTube take down their videos because of copyright issues, new videos are uploaded the following day. Sharing amateur and professional videos on YouTube has been phenomenally […]