USA / COPYRIGHT / DIGITAL DELIVERY (2)

 Problems similar to those discussed in the foregoing article are covered in an article in the Loyola of Los Angeles Entertainment Law Review, 2000, Vol 20 No 2, entitled Streaming into the Future: Music and Video Online, by William Coats and others. The authors discuss the statutory provisions concerned, the consequences of the Diamond case (Recording Industry Association of America v Diamond Multimedia Systems) and the current litigation involving the RIAA and, respectively, Napster and MP3. They observe that the differing positions of the recording industry and the internet audio community appear to be irreconcilable. However, they note that some record company executives have downplayed pirecy and “instead focused on the potential for increased sales on the Internet”. The authors believe that there is enough momentum to ensure that music online will continue growing in popularity at a rapid rate; but, as the author of the previous article points out, there is a difference between downloading music free of charge and downloading it for a price. The authors of the present article consider that protecting the rights of the copyright owners is one of the hurdles to crossed before a solution to the whole problem can be found. [20019]