Steal This Music: How Intellectual Property Law Affects Musical Creativity

194 Pages·2006·3.39 MB·English

by  Joanna Demers

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StealThis Music

Steal This Music
HOW INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW
AFFECTS MUSICAL CREATIVITY
JoannaDemers
THE UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA PRESS
ATHENSANDLONDON
©2006bytheUniversityofGeorgiaPress
Athens,Georgia30602
Allrightsreserved
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Thepaperinthisbookmeetstheguidelinesforpermanence
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06 07 08 09 10 C 5 4 3 2 1
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LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Demers,JoannaTeresa,1975–
Stealthismusic:howintellectualproperty
lawaffectsmusicalcreativity/JoannaDemers.
p.cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN-13:978-0-8203-2710-5(hardcover:alk.paper)
ISBN-10:0-8203-2710-7(hardcover:alk.paper)
ISBN-13:978-0-8203-2777-8(pbk.:alk.paper)
ISBN-10:0-8203-2777-8(pbk.:alk.paper)
1.Copyright—Music—UnitedStates. 2.Composition
(Music) 3.Intellectualproperty—UnitedStates. I.Title.
KF3035.D462006 346.7304'82—dc22 2005021226
BritishLibraryCataloging-in-PublicationDataavailable
CONTENTS
MakingMusicintheSoundscapesoftheLaw,
byRosemaryCoombe vii
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction 1
ChapterOne MusicasIntellectualProperty 11
ChapterTwo ArrangementsandMusicalAllusion 31
ChapterThree Duplication 71
ChapterFour TheShadowoftheLaw 111
Notes 147
Bibliography 159
Index 171

MAKING MUSIC IN THE
SOUNDSCAPES OF THE LAW
Althoughcopyrightappliestomanyculturalexpressions,itsexten-
sion into the field of musical creativity manifests most clearly the
complexitiesofthelawandtherangeofitsculturalinfluence.From
itsoriginsasarighttoprohibittheunauthorizedcopyingofsheet
music,musicalcopyrighthasdramaticallyexpanded.Withrespect
to musical compositions, the law now enables copyright holders
toenjoinpublicperformances,broadcasting,themakingofsound
recordingsinanymedium,and,inmanyjurisdictions,thesharing
ofmusicwiththeaidofdigitaltechnology.Eachoftheseexclusive
rightscanbeseparatelyassignedormultiplylicensedfordistinctpur-
poses,potentiallycreatingtangledwebsofprohibitionthatfreight
theuseofmusicwithdangersoflitigation.Moreandmoreperfor-
mancesarenowconsideredpublic(forexample,songssungatfamily
mealsinrestaurants,atchildren’sdaycarecenters,andatsummer
camps), and the reproduction of even short samples of a song is
potentiallyaninfringementiftheoriginalworkisrecognizable.
Thereachofcopyrightlawhasextendedfarbeyondcompositions
toencompasssoundrecordingsandperformancesasunique“works”
ofcreativitydeservingprotection.Rightsoverrecordingsandperfor-
mances,knownasneighboringrights,inmanyjurisdictionsaresim-
ply incorporated into existing copyright statutes. They exacerbate
vii
viii ROSEMARY COOMBE
the already complicated webs of protection woven around musi-
calworks.Termsofcopyrightprotectionhavebecomeprogressively
longer, ensuring that fewer and fewer works of musical creativity
enterthepublicdomain.Therealmofactsexemptfrominfringe-
mentliability—includingcertainreproductions,performances,and
communicationsofmusicalworks—hasnotexpandedasrapidlyas
thebodyoflimitationsthatincreasinglyencroachupontherangeof
socialactivitiesinwhichmusicmaybeenjoyed.Eventhephysical
mediaforfixingmusichavebeentaxed,andlegislatorshavepassed
laws against circumventing technological “locks” used to prevent
copyingofelectronicmediaevenwheresomeofthecopyingthenew
laws prevent might actually be permitted under traditional copy-
rightlaws.Althoughthereisarichbodyofcaselawelaboratingthe
public’srighttofairdealingandfairuseofworks,copyrightowners
seektocircumventit.Inanycase,howeverpotentiallygenerous,fair
use is valuable only to those who can afford the fees necessary for
aggressivelitigation.Mostfansandcreatorswhosharemusicwillbe
sufficientlyintimidatedbyacorporate“cease-and-desistletter”on
legalletterheadtostoptheiroffendingactivity—regardlessofhow
creative,transformative,noncommercial,ornoncompetitiveitmay
be—go underground, or pay a licensing fee set by corporate fiat.
Meanwhile,therecordingindustrythattendstocontrolthegreat-
est concentration of copyrights in musical works has also learned
todeploycontractlaw,trademarklaw,commonlawunfaircompeti-
tionsuits,andevenpublicityrightstolimitlisteningpracticesand
creativeuseofmusicwithoutauthorizationandpayment.
This legal situation leaves us with a musical culture structured
primarily in favor of the financial interests of corporate intellec-
tualpropertyholdersandshapedbythecontractualconditionsthey
establish.Anypresumptionthatmusicservespublicpurposesand
helps support social objectives seems to have vanished just as any
notionthatthestateshouldacttoprotectthepublicinterestand