Music

MUSIC AS AN INDUSTRY PORTFOLIO - ASSIGNMENT 1

‘PUT BLUNTLY…COPYRIGHT LAW DOESN’T MESH WITH THE PRACTICE OF POPULAR MUSIC’ [TOYNBEE 2004, P.127]

DISCUSS THE BENEFITS AND LIMITATIONS OF CURRENT COPYRIGHT LAW FOR POPULAR MUSIC PRACTIONERS.

One of the most significant current discussions since several years in music is copyright law. Actually, new technologies based on internet changed situation for the classic business model of the music label severely. The music industry provides these new technologies accountable for their lessening in sales whereas some argues that new technologies moreover offer great opportunities for the industry to expand their markets. I will be discussing the benefits and limitations of current copyright law for popular music practioners. I will give some background information of how copyright came into existence. Will also shed lights on the basic foundations of copyright, its economic impacts and of course it’s inefficiencies according to the music business. Furthermore, I will shed light on moral rights in regards to copyright.

Throughout time, different authors have been able to propose different concept of ‘copyright law’. Dictionary.com (2010) states copyright as:

“The exclusive right to make copies, license, and otherwise exploit a literary, musical, or artistic work, whether printed, audio, video, etc”.

According to UKCS (2000-2013) Copyright law was introduced in the United Kingdom (UK) from an idea of common law; the Statue of Anne 1709. It became sanctioned with the passing of the Copyright Act 1911. This law gives the creators of music the right to control the ways in which their material is being used by the public. Despite the importance of copyright law, many artistes don’t have the understanding regarding copyright and its benefits, and some of them depend on rules that have changed dramatically in the past century.

Copyright covers anything that is copyrightable. In the music business, it is broken down into...