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Advanced Copyright Issues on the Internet - Fenwick & West LLP

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to assert claims based <strong>on</strong> <strong>the</strong> making of buffer copies, argues for statutorychange. 2268On Mar. 9, 2001, prior to issuance of <strong>the</strong> 2001 DMCA report, and in resp<strong>on</strong>se to apetiti<strong>on</strong> by <strong>the</strong> RIAA for rulemaking or to c<strong>on</strong>vene a CARP, <strong>the</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>Copyright</str<strong>on</strong>g> Office initiated arequest for public comments <strong>on</strong> <strong>the</strong> interpretati<strong>on</strong> and applicati<strong>on</strong> of <strong>the</strong> mechanical and digitalph<strong>on</strong>orecord compulsory license to certain digital music services, including webcasting. 2269 TheRIAA petiti<strong>on</strong> focused <strong>on</strong> two types of digital music deliveries:“On-Demand Stream,” defined as an “<strong>on</strong>-demand, real-time transmissi<strong>on</strong> using streamingtechnology such as Real Audio, which permits users to listen to <strong>the</strong> music <strong>the</strong>y want when <strong>the</strong>ywant and as it is transmitted to <strong>the</strong>m”; and“Limited Download,” defined as an “<strong>on</strong>-demand transmissi<strong>on</strong> of a time-limited or o<strong>the</strong>r uselimited(i.e. n<strong>on</strong>-permanent) download to a local storage device (e.g. <strong>the</strong> hard drive of <strong>the</strong> user’scomputer), using technology that causes <strong>the</strong> downloaded file to be available for listening <strong>on</strong>lyei<strong>the</strong>r during a limited time (e.g. a time certain or a time tied to <strong>on</strong>going subscripti<strong>on</strong> payments)or for a limited number of times.” 2270Music publishers had taken <strong>the</strong> positi<strong>on</strong> that both On-Demand Streams and LimitedDownloads implicated <strong>the</strong>ir reproducti<strong>on</strong> (mechanical license) rights. The RIAA requested <strong>the</strong><str<strong>on</strong>g>Copyright</str<strong>on</strong>g> Office to determine whe<strong>the</strong>r On-Demand Streams are incidental DPDs and, if so, toc<strong>on</strong>vene a CARP to set rates for those incidental DPDs. With respect to Limited Downloads, <strong>the</strong>RIAA suggested that <strong>the</strong>y may be ei<strong>the</strong>r incidental DPDs or more in <strong>the</strong> nature of record rentals,leases or lendings. 2271 In ei<strong>the</strong>r case, <strong>the</strong> RIAA believed that <strong>the</strong> compulsory license of Secti<strong>on</strong>115 should apply, but asked <strong>the</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>Copyright</str<strong>on</strong>g> Office to c<strong>on</strong>duct a rulemaking proceeding withrespect to <strong>the</strong> issues:2268 Id. Secti<strong>on</strong> III.B.2.c. The report also acknowledged a “symmetrical difficulty” faced in <strong>the</strong> <strong>on</strong>line musicindustry relating to digital performances that are incidental to digital music downloads:“Just as webcasters appear to be facing demands for royalty payments for incidental exercise of <strong>the</strong>reproducti<strong>on</strong> right in <strong>the</strong> course of licensed public performances, it appears that companies that sell licenseddigital downloads of music are facing demands for public performance royalties for a technical ‘performance’of <strong>the</strong> underlying musical work that allegedly occurs in <strong>the</strong> course of transmitting it from <strong>the</strong> vendor’s server to<strong>the</strong> c<strong>on</strong>sumer’s computer.Although we recognize that it is an unsettled point of law that is subject to debate, we do not endorse <strong>the</strong>propositi<strong>on</strong> that a digital download c<strong>on</strong>stitutes a public performance even when no c<strong>on</strong>temporaneousperformance takes place. If a court were to find that such a download can be c<strong>on</strong>sidered a public performancewithin <strong>the</strong> language of <strong>the</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>Copyright</str<strong>on</strong>g> Act, we believe that <strong>the</strong> arguments c<strong>on</strong>cerning fair use and <strong>the</strong> making ofbuffer copies are applicable to this performance issue as well. It is our view that no liability should result froma technical ‘performance’ that takes place in <strong>the</strong> course of a download.” Id.2269 66 Fed. Reg. 14099 (Mar. 9, 2001).2270 Id. at 14100.2271 Id.- 495 -

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