|
Napster wants license law
|
 |
April 3, 2001: 3:45 p.m. ET
Company CEO asks Senate Committee for Internet music law similar to radio
|
NEW YORK (CNNfn) - A Senate hearing on online entertainment and copyrights in the digital age began Tuesday, with Napster Interim CEO Hank Barry calling for a law which would make licensed music available on the Internet, just as it is on radio.
Barry told the Senate Judiciary Committee a compulsory license would "avoid the need for individual negotiations on a scale that is unprecedented in the industry and thus facilitate the launch" of new Internet services.
He also said the license should include "direct payment to artists."
 Committee Chairman Sen. Orrin Hatch asked the panel why the royalty system allows music on the radio isn't possible on the Internet.
Richard Parsons, co-chief operating officer of AOL Time Warner, said the urge to make money itself is an incentive to come up with a solution and it would take time for conflicting interests to work themselves out. AOL Time Warner is the parent company of CNNfn.com.
Ken Berry of EMI said he would be willing to talk to Napster, once Napster comes up with a business model which would protect copyright.
The committee also heard testimony from music artists Don Henley and Alanis Morissette.
Morissette testified piracy can actually be good for some artists starting out, since they never receive royalties after their initial advance. (630K WAV) (630K AIFF)
Napster has been tousling with the recording industry, which has recently accused the file sharing company of willfully not following a federal judge's order to block copyrighted material, saying the song-swap service was still fostering the trade of millions of illegal music files online. 
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
