Digital Rights Management and Rights Licensing in the Online Music Sector: A Case for Cultural Diversity?

Abstract

Digital technologies have fundamentally altered the ways in which cultural content is produced, distributed, accessed and enjoyed. Ensuring easy access to digital content online in general and music works in particular has generated a heated debate at the European Union (EU) level over copyright management. Accounting for this has been the longstanding territorial structure of copyright, that is, the practice of clearing rights for the lawful use of copyright protected content on a territorially limited basis — an element that was left untouched by EU harmonisation. With a view to promoting the expansion of digital music services in Europe and their broad uptake, the European Commission (Commission) has sought to encourage models of collective rights management that guarantee a one-stop shop for multi-territorial, pan-European rights clearance. Action initially built on non-binding legislative instruments and the application of EU competition rules. In July 2012, it culminated in a proposal for a Directive on collective rights management and the multi-territorial licensing of rights in musical works for online uses (European Commission, 2012e). In February 2014, the relevant Directive was adopted by the European Parliament and the Council of the EU (Council) (European Parliament and Council, 2014b).