The United States Copyright Office of the Library of
Congress has issued a 245 page report, “Copyright and the Music Marketplace”,
link here surveying the way music licensing works and examining the need for legal and
public policy changes given technology.
Vox Media interprets the report in a long article by
Kelsey McKinney, “This horribly dull government report could change music
forever”, link here. The
Copyright Report shows concern over the lack of transparency, and the
difficulty of users in determining the legal requirements for use. But the recommendations still seem to favor corporate
distributors (or “middlemen”) and licensing groups and maybe the law firms that
dot Santa Monica Boulevard rather than actual musicians. The proposed rules seems to consider the
performance instance as more significant than the actual musical composition
itself.
But there are cases where artists write their own
songs that are then used in movies or television series. I was under the impression that the
reproduction rights are always individually negotiated for each artists. (“I
just want to do you.”)
Right now, some broadcasting services, like Sirius XM,
which I use in my car, get a bit of a break.
One problem seems to occur when people mix other
people’s music in creating videos and short films, especially on YouTube and
Vimeo.
I know there is a practical problem for many artists
(filmmakers as well as musicians) when they work with companies that help them
with production, and then don’t do a good or consistent job of keeping the
content available. That’s one reason
why I have stayed solo.
There are also practical problems in getting content
locked up in estates.
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