Questions to think about for discussion on 8
February 2006
What will happen if copyright law for music does not change?
- Will the major labels go out of business?
- Will illegal file sharing continue? accellerate? decline?
- Will intermediaries, such as Internet service providers,
become more aggressiving in interdicting file sharing activities?
- Will copyright owners place greater reliance on technological
protections?
- Will enough demand shift to paid downloading or streaming
sites such as iTunes and Rhapsody to replace a significant part of the revenue
stream lost from declining sales of CDs?
- Will "indie" musicians go direct to their customers,
bypassing the major labels, and do in in a way that produces a sustainable
business model? What will be the components of that business model?
- Does the doctrine of adverse possession have any role to
play? Would it be constructive or destructive?
Does copyright law need to be changed? Why?
What changes would you favor, and why?
- Stiffer penalties for infringers?
- Stiffer penalties on facilitating intermediaries such as
Internet service providers? Why is that necessary after the Grokster
decision?
- Broader privileges for consumers to share files and do other
things that constitute prima facie copyright infringement? How would you define
and limit the privilege?
- A taxing/compulsory licensing/collective enforcement regime,
accompanied by a broader privilege, either contractually or statutorily granted?
If you favor this, why is new law necessary; why won't it happen on its own,
through self-interested marketplace decisions?
What do you predict will happen legally, and why?
- in the courts?
- in the Congress?