scholarly journals The evolution and consequences of digital rights management in relation to online music streaming

Legal Studies ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Nick Scharf

Abstract Streaming services now provide the dominant way in which music is distributed and consumed online. Digital rights management (DRM) lies at the heart of this trend and has evolved alongside a movement from copy-based to streaming-based consumption. This shift poses a number of new and unique issues. Music streaming services have changed the nature of the product offered, with musical content becoming de-bundled and reduced to a series of permissions covered by DRM and associated licences, leaving users trapped in a permission-based system. This may create tension with copyright law principles regarding personal ownership and exhaustion of rights in relation to secondary markets, but through analysing relevant US and European case law it can be demonstrated that there is little, if any, legal opportunity for digital secondary markets to emerge. There are also further specific consequences which may affect artists relating to musical diversity and the composition of popular music and, also, consequences regarding the changing nature of the Internet itself. In this context copyright remains centrally important, but only in establishing the initial proprietary rights that enable subsequent DRM and licence-based online exploitation, indicative of a re-establishment of record industry power that is now allied to streaming platforms.

Author(s):  
Ramya Venkataramu ◽  
Mark Stamp

Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology is used to control access to copyrighted digital content. Apple employs a DRM system known as Fairplay in its iTunes online music store. Users communicate with the centralized iTunes server to download, purchase, play, and preview digital content. The iTunes music store has the potential disadvantage of a bandwidth bottleneck at the centralized server. Furthermore, this bandwidth bottleneck problem will escalate with increasing popularity of online music and other digital media, such as video. In this chapter, we analyze the Fairplay DRM system. We then consider a modified architecture that can be employed over existing peer-to-peer (P2P) networks. Our new system, P2PTunes, is designed to provide the benefits of a decentralized P2P network while providing DRM content protection that is at least as strong as that found in Fairplay.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jyh-An Lee ◽  
Yangzi Li

Abstract After going through four drafts and several consultations in the past decade, the Third Amendment of Copyright Law was finally adopted in China on 11 November 2020. The new Copyright Law will come into effect on 1 June 2021. This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of the major changes in the Third Amendment, including originality, copyright subject matter, scope of exclusive rights, copyright collective management organisations, digital rights management, and remedies. In addition, this paper discusses unsolved issues in the Third Amendment ‒ namely orphan works and those associated with artificial intelligence technologies ‒ for future copyright reform. By examining the amended provisions in the Third Amendment, this paper illustrates the multiple purposes underlying China’s recent copyright reform.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-25
Author(s):  
Stefanus Oliver ◽  
Tommy Winarta

In this digital era, numerous copyrighted items such as music and movies can be enjoyed online. However, our activities in enjoying those entertainments are also limited by the copyright law. Some contents are also protected by Digital Rights Management, which makes sure that the user who purchases the item is the only person who has the right to enjoy the content. All of these rules are obviously made to make sure that everything is in order. Therefore, those illegal activities can be brought to justice. However, the lack of communication might present an ambiguity to the users, and those users might unconsciously do illegal things that are previously forbidden. Other than that, the law itself has its own limitation in the aspect of execution and enforcement, causing pirated versions of a content can be found easily on the internet. This paper is going to review the current condition of the execution of the law regarding the DRM protected contents.


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