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Título: Copyright protection of musical compositions in the U.S.A.
Autores: Buerskens, Holger
Fecha: 1992
Publicador: McGill University - MCGILL
Fuente:
Tipo: Electronic Thesis or Dissertation
Tema: Law.
Descripción: The author analyses the copyright protection of musical compositions in the U.S.A. with regard to the development of new reproduction methods. He argues that the existing copyright law has to be reinterpreted or amended in order to control new technologies in an appropriate way. The possibility to analyze music with computers and to store and reproduce it digitally ("sampling") has not only opened a broad variety of possibilities to use compositions already published for new productions, it also poses new questions for the application of copyright law.
The author interprets the existing legislation and adjudication with regard to the possibilities the new technologies offer and makes suggestions for an adaptation of the existing law to recent developments in technology. The author especially criticizes the so-called "audience test" to determine infringement and suggests, that in areas requiring a particular technical knowledge, the determination of copyright infringement should not be left up to the impression of a lay person, but rather depend on the testimony of an expert.
The author argues, that the recent developments in the music business require a new definition of the scope of protection of musical works. Parts of music such as rhythm, harmony or the arrangement of a song should itself be protected by copyright law.
For the area of digital sound sampling the author suggests the introduction of a statutory licensing scheme. The license fee should depend on the length of the part taken and the number of copies sold.
Idioma: en