Sharing and Owning of Musical Works

Abstract

Markets for musical works are based on a compromise between sharing and owning. By empowering consumers and aspiring artists, new digital technology and the Internet threaten to change this compromise. The new technologies allow consumers to make and to disseminate—legally and illegally—copies of musical works that are virtually the same in quality as the original. Facing falling or stagnant sales, established entities of the music industry—recording companies, producers, and distributors— are fighting back with increased lobbying for ever tighter copyright laws and stricter enforcement. The authors analyze contemporary copyright protection for musical works by illuminating the interplay of new technologies, public policy, protection awarded to artists, and outcomes for all stakeholders in markets for musical works throughout history from a societal, jurisprudential, and ethical perspective. Little support has been found for the music industry’s call for more legal protection of the status quo. A new balance between sharing and owning that shifts power from the industry and its established stars to consumers and aspiring artists is not likely to translate ‘‘to the day the music died.’’