Alternative Copyright System

The music industry is getting all frustrated with the current crisis,as well as the failing copyright system that is slowly drowning theentertainment industry. Seeing this situation, a legal scholar in Cambridge Massachusettsproposed a radical plan for a system that he claims would pay artists fairlyand bring more digital media to the people who desire for it. But persuadingboth the music industry and the movieindustry in liking the idea seems far fetched, or at least in the near future.

Rather than adapting with thecurrent and failing copyright system, HarvardLaw Schoolprofessor Terry Fisher talked more about his proposal at the Internet LawProgram, a three day event sponsored by the school’s Berkman Centerfor Internet and Society.

Fisher favors an alternatecompensation system which could pay artists based on the popularity of theirmusic. For this system to work, artists must register with the copyright officefirst, which would help them in tracking the times whenever work is downloaded.The revenue coming from the taxes such as for the Internet access and the saleof MP3 players would generate money that would eventually be used to pay forthe artists.

The RIAA, or Recording IndustryAssociation of America, which stands for the labels, has been using thecopyright law to sue thousands of music enthusiasts for infringement sinceSeptember. But according to Fisher, more than 60 million people still continueto share music via peer to peer networks. In accordance with this, Fisher saidthat his substitute model would allow music enthusiasts to get more music forless money, without the fear of any legal action against them from the RIAA.Therefore, all artists would get paid better than they are under the accustomedsystem.

While record industry executivesdid not show any particular interest in the idea, Fisher said that there aremuch more significant prospects for producing this system in other countries.To back this up, Fisher said that Brazil is interested on the ideaand is already building a data base of digital music, an act supported by thecountry’s minister of culture, musician Gilberto Gil. If this system workssuccessfully in Brazil for afew years, with the music industry inthe UScontinue to suffer then an alternative compensation system may be more alluring.

But according to Fisher, the U.S.would more likely be embracing the idea on a voluntary version, which wouldrequire the participation of both musicians and music fans to be successful,and can provide funds through subscription revenues.