Copyright in the online era : monetization and copyright utilization in the digital music market

Abstract

The background for this thesis was to look at the unresolved issues regarding monetization and licensing of music in the online area. After studying the music industry for several years I was of the impression that there existed a dichotomy between a “global” unregulated Internet and national markets and law. I used two different methodological approaches; explanatory method to build the understanding and overview needed to build the theoretical background for the thesis and generative research in the form of in-depth qualitative interviews to answer the main questions. I found there to be two significant solution propositions to the licensing issue on the online market in Europe; multi-territorial cross borders licensing solutions under the auspices of the European Union, with support from many of the big new intermediaries in the music industry, and national solutions with international registers. I found these different approaches or solutions to benefit different stakeholders in the online market, but my main target was to find, and recommend the solution I found most beneficial for the online market as a whole. I also made many interesting observations regards to the international copyright landscape and Internet infrastructure, on how politics, economic forces, lobbying and cultural differences all effect how they are built and are being used in our everyday life. My conclusion will also show why the monetization and copyright utilization in the online music market does not benefit from the fact that a handful of very powerful companies have monopoly on the information flow without any forms of regulation or transparency.