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Note (added December 8, 2008): These slides were prepared in September, 2008, based on information provided to EDUCAUSE by Warner Music Group. EDUCAUSE is presenting this material to the Common Solutions Group as a service to interested campuses. No endorsement from EDUCAUSE should be inferred, and all questions should be addressed to Warner Music Group.
Warner Music GroupProposed Experiment/Pilot in “Voluntary Blanket Licensing” for Online Access to MusicMark LukerEDUCAUSE
Goal • Let students access and use music any way they want to • Generate fair returns to content owners • Avoid DMCA notices, lawsuits, etc • Avoid technological requirements that might impact our networks or hinder innovation
How? • Students access and use music any way they want to through the campus net • P2P, Limewire, iTunes, etc. OK • No DRM OK • iPods OK • Hardware neutral • Institutions make a reasonable effort to estimate the number of downloads per song • Might monitor traffic through a cache • Statistical sampling OK • Determined by the campus • Experimentation encouraged
How? • Institutions collect/fund/amass a pot of money (e.g. per student per month) • As determined by the campus • All students or none • A non-profit organization distributes the money proportionately to content owners • All major labels and an indie association are members • Covers all rights holders for the music • “Prices” TBD
In return: • Content owners refrain from all DMCA notices and lawsuits • Not really licensing • “Covenant not to sue” • Possible complication • Simplest if accepted by all HE and ISPs • If not must avoid massive leakage from those that are covered to others that are not
WMG Question • Are any institutions interested in • Learning more? • Participating in a pilot? • Is CSG interested in herding a pilot project?
Comments from WMG • We are open-minded as regards our non-commercial voluntary blanket license solution, for which we're assembling all rights (sound recording and publishing) from all four big music companies and the independents: • We suggest our approach be self-administered in an academic setting. • Our fundamentals are but two, a pool of money and data for a fair split amongst rights holders. • We are following history, not an eight-ball or ill-conceived scheme. We offer the approach that followed the arrival of electricity -- performance, radio, television, cable, satellite and webcast are all monetized through blanket licenses. • Our approach leads other media and makes music the canary in the mine -- music sets a precedent that video, text, graphics and others can and will follow. • We've started a non-profit company to be clear we intend to operate with good intentions and not profit as a motive. • Our approach is supported by the EFF, Public Knowledge and many organizations dedicated to network freedom.
Comments from WMG • We believe our approach is loaded with upside for the academic community: • We believe growth and learning will result from this self-administration approach. • Caching can lead to bandwidth savings that may offset or obviate the fees. • Our approach guarantees unfettered network access and encourages network management optimization. • It is a clear truce in the war between content and network. It meets the interests and goals of all concerned, a win-win. • Contact us as you like with any questions, concerns or comments: • Jim Griffin, griffin@onehouse.com, 212-275-2270.