The prominence of the internet has accentuated the value of intellectual property. There are varied business disputes involving intellectual property. There are disputes brought by an author against another author, artist against artist or company or company against company. The most recent intellectual property dispute to hit the airwaves is that of the new European Union copyright laws. For many years, the music industry and artists have launched complaints that tech companies are exploiting the lack of legal protection around music videos that are being viewed on popular sites to pay artists less in terms of royalties (Sweney, 2018). The biggest names on the receiving end of this complaint have been Google, YouTube, and Facebook. The case which is being presided over by the European Union has had these tech companies at risk of having to pay a lot of money to press publishers, artists and record labels.
The case about copyright payouts has been in the EU for nearly two years. Both sides are seriously lobbying for their cause. Artists and record labels complain that YouTube is one of the most popularly viewed sites for musical content in the globe. This makes it the biggest music service in the world. The revenue paid to artists by the company in terms of royalties has been calculated to stand at 75 cents per artist annually which is far less than what the company makes and what the artists get as royalties from the sale of vinyl records. Artists feel that by going through with their cause, they are making right moves and closing the value gap that has existed between these businesses. This may also be the sole opportunity to institute a balance in the online world. The receiving end argues that doing so would transform an open platform that has been used for sharing innovation into a censorship tool (Sweney, 2018).
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The EU has agreed to come up with new copyright laws for the tech companies that shall require them to seek a direct license for music videos. The EU has recently rejected some of the proposed changes to these laws which have saved tech companies billions that would have to be paid to artists and record labels (Sweney, 2018). Amendments to these laws shall be debated upon again in September. It is possible that the EU shall uphold the recent ruling that the tech companies do not have to share their revenues with the music industry as had been demanded before but shall make license arrangements that shall regulate access to music videos by tech companies. This shall be done to protect the interests of both parties and prevent losses on either side.
References
Sweney, M. (2018). YouTube and Facebook escape billions in copyright payouts after EU vote. The Guardian . Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/jul/05/youtube-could-escape-billions-in-copyright-payouts-after-eu-vote
