Title: Enjoy your online music carefully: collective management of music copyrights in the USA

Authors: Lin Shang

Addresses: School of Law, University of International Business and Economics, No. 10 Huixin Dongjie, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100029, China

Abstract: Collective management organisations (CMOs) are essential to the online provision of music. They can achieve an economy of scale and greatly facilitate the commodification of music works. However, due to the excessive market power held by these organisations, it is also possible for CMOs to harm both copyright holders and their licensees. Consequently, consent decrees between ASCAP, BMI and the US Department of Justice (DOJ) aim to deter CMOs from abusing their market power. Additionally, individuals are also entitled to take private actions against CMOs' anticompetitive behaviours. Further, faced with the fragmented online music copyrights, challenged by the common use of digital equipment, the collective management of copyrights in the USA calls for substantial reforms.

Keywords: music copyright; collective management organisations; CMOs; online music; United States; USA; musical composition; sound recordings; blanket licence; consent decree; copyright reform.

DOI: 10.1504/IJIPM.2015.071340

International Journal of Intellectual Property Management, 2015 Vol.8 No.1/2, pp.58 - 77

Received: 07 Jan 2015
Accepted: 05 Mar 2015

Published online: 21 Aug 2015 *

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