ipl-logo

Copyright Vs Napster Copyright Law

884 Words4 Pages

Many significant cases dealing with copyright have been filed over the years. Copyright laws continue to help protect the artists of creative works by helping to determine the legal rights of how such works can be reproduced, distributed, displayed, or performed. To help ensure digital ownership, artists are required to register and copyright their works. Through past cases, important precedencies have been established.
Napster

Developed by programmers Sean Fanning and Sean Parker in 1999, Napster was a website that used peer-to-peer (P2P) sharing to allowed users to trade copyrighted music files stored on Napster’s servers without any payment necessary. P2P networks enable computers to connect directly to each other and utilize specialized …show more content…

Napster was found guilty and ordered to stop allowing sharing of copyright-protected material without adequate compensation to owners. Napster lost the case largely because it used a central server that provided transparency to its operations and the ability to control the flow of music (Chandra, Goel, Miesing, 2010). The court found that since the names of songs and masters resided in an index on Napster’s server, and gave users the opportunity to research which songs they wished to download, Napster was under the duty to police it. (Gordon, …show more content…

This objective is promoted by discouraging infringement as well as by the successful defense of copyright infringement actions (2001).
Eminem vs. Universal Music Group

One of the more recent cases filed was in 2007, where Eminem sued Universal Music Group over the way royalties are computed for digital music, which comes down to whether an individual song sold online should be considered a license or a sale. The difference is far from academic because, as with most artists, Eminem’s contract stipulates that he gets 50 percent of the royalties for a license but only 12 percent for a sale (Sasario, 2011).
In the end the Supreme upheld a lower court’s decision that digital music should be treated as a license. This case was significant especially for older artists because record companies didn’t start revising their contracts to include digital sales among an artist’s record royalties until the early 2000s. Artist such as the Allman Brothers, also followed Eminem and sued both Universal and Sony BMG Music Entertainment over similar contractual issues.

Show More
Related
205 Words | 1 Pages

Lawrence Lessig’s research on piracy and copyright laws suggest the issue began long before Napster’s free website of burning music for personal use. In fact, stolen content was first documented one hundred years ago when Thomas Edison’s inventions were stolen before copyright laws were in place. Moreover, Lessig compares piracy and loopholes throughout history. Thomas Edison’s phonographs and Henri Fourneaux’s player pianos (used to record music) forced copyright laws just as cable companies’ piracy techniques forced copyright laws.

Read More
427 Words | 2 Pages

Because these downloads tend to take place in the comfort of our own home, the ramifications and moral wrongdoings are not as apparent as stealing something from a store. Downloading music goes against the intention of the internet and presents dangers through others takin advantage of it. The internet was never meant to be used to commit crimes. Because of this sense of comfort, people are more likely to download multiple songs (as was the case with LaHara, Thomas-Rassett and Tenenbaum) and this hurts not just the artists but the crew who produce their music. The three cases discussed are important examples of the consequences that come with illegal music downloading and steps the RIAA is taking to help prevent such illegal

Read More
1427 Words | 6 Pages

In Walter Olson’s “How Copyright Law Makes Sample-Based Music Impossibly Expensive... If You Want To Do It Legally”, Olson reports that there is an increasing number of copyrights out now, and artists must make sure their song is clear of copyrights to publish it. If it is not, they have to pay an expensive sample clearance fee. Olson asserted that ”Capitol records would lose 20 million dollars on a record that sold 2.5 million units”(3).In other words, it is nearly impossible to find all copyrights, and make a profit off the artwork after paying for copyright clearance fees. Artists should not have to pay expensive copyright clearance

Read More
1009 Words | 5 Pages

This paper examines and summarizes the court Federal case 33921 Entertainment Software Association V. Society of Composers, Authors, and Music Publishers of Canada. By definition of court, a court does not create the laws, however, it interprets cases and rules, these elucidations are further referred to in order to reach a final decision. The commencement of this case is between ESA and SOCAN. The fundamental matter of the case is the interpretation of whether communicating through the internet to the public gives copyright owners the same right that they would have when their products are sold in stores.

Read More
505 Words | 3 Pages

Ralph is a fictional character from the famous novel, Lord of the Flies by William Golding. Throughout the book, Ralph stood out in many ways by either his actions or by his charismatic personality. His traits made him a unique character in the book since it ranged from leadership, to sympathy for others. The other characters were not as different as Ralph as they were either too cocky, like the antagonist of the story, jack, or highly intelligent but too shy, like his friends Piggy and Simon.

Read More
812 Words | 4 Pages

Starting with the foundation of Hollywood, he describes how film makers moved to California to escape the reach of copyright laws that protected the inventions of Thomas Edison that made film production possible. In this case, the binary is between Edison, backed by federal law, and filmmakers such as Fox and Paramount, who pirated his inventions in order to pioneer the film industry. Lessig draws a pattern between these past discrepancies and P2P sharing, claiming that both occur in an attempt to “escape an overly controlling industry.” In the case of P2P sharing, the binary is between the music industry and the general public. By using binaries, Lessig strengthens his argument by making it appear simpler than it truly is.

Read More
402 Words | 2 Pages

CITATION: George Harrison vs Bright Tunes Music Corp. 420 F. Supp 177 (S.D.N.Y. 1971) FACTS: George Harrison, an English musician and former member of the Beatles was hit with a lawsuit by Bright Tunes Music Corp. after they felt like Harrison copyrighted and infringed in one of their artist’s songs. Bright Tunes Corps. The musical composition was very much alike in both of the artists’ songs and Bright Tunes had the copyright over it compared to Harrison. When Harrison separated from the Beatles after 22 years, he wanted to venture off as a solo artist.

Read More
308 Words | 2 Pages

Arguments, favors and oppositions Since Napster emerged, music sales in the U.S. have dropped 47 percent(RIAA,n.d.). However, Napster or any other music piracy is not to blame. In fact, music industry in 1980s and 90s was over-inflated(Swanson,2013). Artists receive a percentage of the music sales, and it is mostly between 12 and 14%(if you are a superstar, it can be 20%), after the deductions the retailer, the record company and the songwriter.

Read More
1400 Words | 6 Pages

In the article entitled “A Royal Revolution: An Analysis of the Influence of Prince on Music Marketing” by Deirde T. Guion Peoples, record labels paid all the costs for an artist’s album—production, distribution, marketing. But in return, they owned the recordings thanks to the ‘work for hire’ copyright law. Gaining ownership through contracts was standard, but lots of musicians hated giving up their song rights. This incisive point illuminates the fact that artists put in the effort to share their creativity with their audiences, but they had no control over their

Read More
788 Words | 4 Pages

Publishing Research Quarterly, 35(4), 512-527. Keller, E., et al. (2018). The 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the ' Blockchain for Copyright Protection: Potentials and Challenges. Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice, 13(7), 560-567.

Read More
1695 Words | 7 Pages

After a song has been written, released, and enjoyed by the masses, songwriters receive compensation for their work through their Performing Rights Organizations (“PROs”).  PROs negotiate license agreements for the use of songs, collect any royalties the songs generate, and distribute those royalties back to the songwriters. Today there are three major PROs: the American Society of Composers and Music Publishers (“ASCAP”), Broadcast Music, Inc. (“BMI”) and SESAC, Inc. (“SESAC”). Currently, ASCAP, BMI and SESAC license practically every copyrighted musical work in the United States. In 1941, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) began investigating ASCAP and BMI for allegedly monopolizing “…the market for performance rights for copyrighted songs played on the radio.”

Read More
1035 Words | 5 Pages

And how does this case affect the future of file sharing and the music industry? In this paper, I will be examining the effect of illegal peer-to-peer file sharing on the music industry and how this case has changed the way we buy and share music today. Napster was founded in 1999 by college student, Shawn Fanning. This new program gave users access to

Read More
2454 Words | 10 Pages

A. The USA Supreme Court gave the desicion in MGM Studios,Inc. V. Grokster,Ltd case. The allegation is MGM Studios Inc is the copyrighted owners of movies and music Networks are the compeny distributors of free software that gives users to share the files through peer to peer networks, this software facilitates the process of direct file transfer from one computer to another computer. So MGM Studios claimed that the Grokster distribute the software internationally to enable the users to share the copyrighted files like songs and movies B.The Grokster and StreamCast network defended that invoking substantial nonfringing use of software with safe harbo,they defended like inventing software is not a crime and also provide to users is also not

Read More
986 Words | 4 Pages

The industries copyright rules are very lenient. The author “Paul Grant” States that “At one time it was easy for the music industry and artists to keep control of their intellectual property (IP)” (Paul Grant, 1) now is n ot that time. The author “Paul Grant” States that “As technology has progressed, legal questions have been raised to how to enforce copyright law” (Paul Grant, 1) this can be quite problematic as technology is progressing as fast as it is. The author “Paul Grant” States that “Napster basically allows anyone who logs onto the service to open a part of their hard drive to the public in order to share their collection of MP3 files.”

Read More
1452 Words | 6 Pages

The music industry is indubitably one of the largest entertainment industries in world. Global recorded music sales raked in a total of US $15.7 billion in 2016 (International Federation of Phonographic Industry (IFPI), 2016). The music industry “consists of the companies and individuals that make money by creating and selling live music performances, sound recordings and music videos of songs and instrumental pieces” (The Audiopedia, 2016). Over time, the dissemination of music has evolved. In the past, vinyl records and compact discs were a common way to distribute recorded music.

Read More

More about Copyright Vs Napster Copyright Law

Related Topics

Open Document