Want to be a DJ?

Now everybody can be a DJ. How is this possible? Through peer-to-peer radio. Anybody using software from p2p clients like PeerCast or Streamer can stream their personal audio files on p2p networks. Basically, anybody can run their own internet radio station. By taking advantage of streaming audio, people on the p2p network do not run afoul of copyright law.

A CNET article reports on one of these p2p networks. Mercora, said that it switched to an Internet broadcast network in order to take advantage of the distinct manner win which the law treats music streamed on the internet. “Broadcasting fees are set by the U.S. Copyright Office rather than by the record labels and are relatively cheap – they come to about 1/7 of a penny per listener, or about $1,429 per million people. As a result, Mercora says that it can afford to pay the fee on behalf of the broadcasters on its network, with the cost offset through advertising sales.” Here is what it says on the Mercora website:

The Legality of Webcasting with Mercora
Mercora lets you webcast music on the Internet using the Mercora client running on your PC and the Mercora servers located on the domain mercora.com. We have obtained a statutory license for the non-interactive webcasting of digital audio as per the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), 17 U.S.C. § 114... This license pertains to the digital performance rights of sound recordings and the associated reporting and royalty payments to SoundExchange® (the independent non-profit organization that represents over 500 record companies and associated labels). We have also obtained all U.S. (and in somecases international) musical composition performance rights through our licenses with ASCAP, BMI and SESAC . These pertain to the performance rights and associated royalties due to song writers. We take care of all the reporting and royalty payments that are due to these various organizations. You (the end user) do not have to worry about any of this.

Downloading streamed music through other types of software would be legal if it was for personal use. However, if the download was then sold or transferred to another person, then it would be illegal.

As for what Mercora can do now…it will just allow listeners to tap into a genre or a particular artist on demand. “Over time, a larger network and improved search tools should let people pinpoint musical demands.”

This will inevitably lead to the RIAA taking action. Personally, I agree with the backers of the technology, which say that it could be used to create promotional opportunities for artists and record labels – just like Grokster and/or Streamcast did for Wilco, as mentioned in the Ninth Cicuit Court of Appeals opinion in that case. “’Traditionally, radio generated 95 percent of new music sales, and digital radio is taking that same space,’ said Zack Zalon, president of Virgin Digital.” I tend to agree with this because if I like a song I hear on the radio, I will head over to Tower Records and look for that specific CD. The advances in technology are fascinating. Smart people will always find ways around the law.

Comments

[hungerburg]

good story: so its not about buying or renting music, like real, apple ea. are doing, but tunining into the radio; only question: taping allowed?

[hungerburg]

the reason i ask is, of course, i did it a lot, when i was young, so to say :)
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