Legal issues can plague any company, but they can be easily
avoidable with proper paperwork and permission. The first article I want to
bring up is a recent lawsuit against the website MP3Tunes. MP3Tunes was an
online music distributer that sold MP3s of many songs without permission from
the publishers. The case, found here,
stated “More than 2,100 copyrights were at issue in the liability phase” (Reuters,
2014). The case centered on the infringement of rights for sound recordings,
compositions, and cover art. The copyright infringements based around the
copyrights owned by recording companies along with the publishers that were
part of EMI Group Ltd.
The main issue that was centered on this lawsuit was that
MP3Tunes selling these works without the permission from these companies for
their own financial gain and not paying any royalties to the content owners. This
could have been avoided if the proper steps would have been taken by MP3Tunes
to secure partnerships to sell this music, then the lawsuit may have been
avoided. For example, iTunes secured deals with the publishing companies to pay
royalties and secure profits for themselves. If MP3Tunes took the time to
strike deals with these companies and split the profits, then they could have
avoided the shutdown of their site.
The next article I would like to discuss in the article
about Pandora possibly losing recorded music that was released before 1972. In this
article, “major music companies are suing online radio service Pandora for what
they claim is a major case of copyright infringement” (Venturebeat, 2014). As
of today, and with any online streaming service, every time a song is played
that is copyrighted the music service pays out licensing fees to the copyright
owners. Federal law for pre-1972 recordings was not available for musical
recordings. As of now, pre-1972 recordings are protected via state/common law;
which as we know are not at a federal level and do not qualify for many
benefits of a federal level registration.(Plagiarism Today, 2014). In my opinion, it’s hard to say how this case
will pan out. There is possibility that Pandora may be able to settle with the
major music companies to pay them the money owed for songs played, or be safe
and pay the royalties to the company regardless of their protections. Although,
the claim by the company is filed as a violation of New York law, and is a case
of common law copyright infringement. The case can go one of two ways, either
Pandora must remove these recordings from their library, or that Pandora agrees
to pay royalties from now going forward and possibly back pay for royalties.
Lastly, a very recent event in the copyright realm is the
now trending “Monkey
Selfie.” It all stems from a photographer named David Slater who in 2011
“Traveled to Indonesia to take pictures of the crested black macaque, a snouty
primate with reddish, somewhat possessed-looking eyes” (Slate, 2014). The
website Wikimedia has posted his famous Selfie picture from the primate, but
not only on the website but in its public domain collection. The website
refuses to take it down due to Slater’s demands claiming that Slater doesn’t
own the copyright because he didn’t actually take the picture; the monkey took
the picture. To get an opinion outside of the knowledge of copyright I asked my
wife her opinion on who would own the copyright. She stated “Well, even if he
didn’t take the picture it’s still his camera, equipment, software, and
everything so he should own it” (Lauren Myers, 2014).
I would have to agree with her statement, and it was Slater’s
equipment that took the photo then he should own the copyright. Although, the
argument can come up that if I took a picture with a friend’s camera that sold
for 1 Million dollars, then does he own it or me? Chris Sprigman, a law
professor at New York University stated, “The photographer doesn’t own it. And
the monkey doesn’t, either. It’s in the public domain”(Slate, 2014). I think
this situation may end up with a redefinition of what constitutes as conceptual
art work that can be copyrighted. Although, in my opinion I believe Slater will
be awarded the copyright if this were to go to trial due to the public opinions
I have read and heard from people around me.
References:
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