Proposal to adopt copyright radio model on the internet
Last week, the Dutch Democratic Party (D66) MP Kees Verhoeven and Erwin Angad-Gaur of Ntb, a business and legal expertise center for musicians, dancers and actors, proposed a new model for copyright on the internet. However,it is not really a new model, as they propose to regulate copyright on the internet just like copyright is regulated on the radio.
Copyright on the radio is regulated as follows: when you wish to play music in a shop or bar, you have to obtain consent and pay a fee to the copyright holders. Because it is impossible to pay for each song you play, collective management organizations took on the task to organize this for authors, composers, musicians, publishers and record companies.
The Dutch government decided not to use the radio model on internet, but to choose a model of individual exploitation based on prohibition rights. The latter means that when a digital on-demand service is set up, a deal with the individual record companies should be made. Therefore, the number of legal platforms for music, but also for movies and television shown on the internet, is limited. According to Verhoeven and Angad-Gaur, the radio model would ensure internet users have more options to choose legal content, which increases revenue for artists.
Critics say the Dutch Copyright Act is outdated mainly because of the rise of internet. Through the internet, producers and musicians lose revenues when their works are exchanged illegally. On the other hand, internet users complain there are insufficient legal alternatives to enjoy music and movies. Therefore, the Dutch Parliament is discussing possible adjustments to the Copyright Law. However, there is a lot of debate on how the Copyright Law should be adjusted.
Perhaps the proposal of Verhoeven and Angad-Gaur is an option. But is questionable whether it would work in practice. A first problem is that a radio model would only work if the sites that publish the content actually pay their fees. It is unlikely that a site like the Pirate Bay would do so. Furthermore, a download levy has serious drawbacks (see the article 'Why a download levy is a really bad idea' below).
Read more about adjusting the Dutch Copyright Act on FutureofCopyright.com:
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