See Emily Play

Left: Pink Floyd - authors

Under UK law the author of a musical work that is computer-generated is the person by whom the arrangments necessary for the creation of the work are undertaken (CDPA1988 s. 9 (3)). So far so simple. But a computer-generated work, the Act tell us, is one of which there is no human author (CDPA 1988 s.178).

David Cope, Dickerson Emeriti Professor at the University of California-Santa Cruz has spent decades working on programmes that "compose" music, reports Ars Technica. Says Cope, "as time progressed ..... I got this idea of data-driven programming. Instead of me writing all the rules for the program, I would create a database of music and have the computer analyze that data to attempt to produce something like it."

The Professor produced EMI (pronounced "Emmy"). "EMI was originally developed to analyze [Cope's] own musical style by feeding it past compositions in hopes of finding patterns—little musical signatures that only he does—and replicating them in new ways". This proved unpopular with musicians - or at least their agents: "A number of big-name classical performers expressed interest, but their agents wouldn't let them touch it with a ten-foot pole, citing industry controversy. They thought it would blemish the name of the performer......" Explore EMI's works as MP3 files here.

Below: A Ten Foot Pole



Now, Professor Cope, looks set to stir up fresh controversy with his new brain child "Emily Howell". Ars Technica reports: "Instead of feeding Emily a database of works that already exist, he gave her a collection of works that EMI had produced to get it going and, from there, she began working on her own musical style. Cope described Emily's style to be similar to modern composers, a "sort of an amalgam of all styles" and very contemporary. But what makes Emily interesting isn't just that; it's the fact that she can take audible feedback—musically or verbally—from an audience in order to modify her compositions."

Cope tells us that"The program produces something and I say yes or no, and it puts weights on various aspects in order to create that particular version. I've taught the program what my musical tastes are, but it's not music in the style of any of the styles—it's Emily's own style."

And Emily?: She is soon to release "her" first CD on Centaur Records. And for the record company, just think of the savings on stylists, photographers, make up artists, and the rest of the army of promotional primpers and crimpers that support many an artist.

11 Outlawed

Not really a copyright story but, Deutsche Welle reports that EU Consumer Affairs Commissioner, Meglena Kuneva, has announced that the EU is to draft new standards to limit the volume of mobile music players because of concerns over hearing loss or damage amongst the young. The aim is said to be a cap at 80 decibels as opposed to the current 100 Db. Fans of Spinal Tap are said to be disconsolate.

Victoria's new station in life

Some say that, with the advent of new technology, copyright has become a matter of purely academic interest. Is this perhaps why President Barack Obama has nominated the unquestionably academic Victoria A. Espinel as the first copyright czar for the United States? If so, cynics may be in for a surprise. According to Threat Level, Victoria's appointment has been applauded by both sides of the econo-political divide.

Congress created this new position last year as part of a legislative package of intellectual property reform. The formal title of the czar “Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator”, which suggests that she may not be equally popular with all sides of the copyright community if she gets the chance to fulfil her job description. According to Threat Level:

"The czar’s position is charged with overseeing government anti-piracy crackdowns and, among other things, training other countries about IP enforcement. The Pro-IP Act also called for the creation of an FBI piracy unit and allows for the forfeiture of equipment used in large pirating operations. The legislation was strongly backed by Hollywood, the recording industry, unions, manufacturers and the Chamber of Commerce".

Latest Copyright World

The rather slender September 2009 issue of Informa's 10-times-a-year Copyright World leads with an article on the theme of "carrot and stick", though the cover illustration, viewed at full size, appears to depict a carrot that has been hanged by the neck for some unspecified misdemeanour (unlawful file-sharing, perhaps?)

The cover story, it transpires, is a piece by Nigel Gilroy (Davenport Lyons) on how to best protect and monetise online rights. According to the abstract,

"Consumers and businesses around the world have undoubtedly enjoyed the benefits of the internet over recent years. However, these benefits have come at a price for rights owners, who find themselves in a constant battle with those who are happy to exploit intellectual property rights (IPRs) yet are unwilling to pay for the privilege".

Familiar story? Yes but, while the basic plot remains the same, each new court decision, lobby poturing and business plan provides a fresh new twist and provides a factual prism through which the 'where's the money?' and 'where's the enforcement?' issues can be reviewed/

Further details of Copyright World are available here.

GBS: c'est la guerre

The Google Book Settlement fairness hearing has been postponed from 7 October (order here). The next steps are presumably that the parties will redraft the Settlement in collaboration with the Department of Justice. Although this will take a while, the revised draft will bear the stamp of approval of the US govt, so it will be very persuasive, won't it?

Not to the French. Google was in court today in France over the same thing ... verdict expected before Christmas.

Those who think enough trees have been demolished in this cause should remember that it concerns almost everything every written (that's in copyright).

File-sharing: it's the economy, stupid.

Peter Mandelson took the opportunity of a trip to the BRIT School in Croydon today to defend his new position on file-sharing, saying that new laws alone are not enough, but that new laws and new business models together are needed for the creative industries to flourish, which is "vital for jobs and growth".

Accompanied by culture secretary Ben Bradshaw, he emphasising that illegal downloading is threat to the livelihoods of "talented hard-working people striving to get a foothold" in the creative industries.

He also seems to have tried to calm down some of the more uninformed debate on the topic by emphasising that he is only proposing temporary account suspension, as a last resort and in the most serious cases (although of course it remains unclear how the industry Codes of Conduct contemplated by the new legislation will determine which are the most serious cases).

Improved conditions for performers? Here comes another initiative ...

A press release issued by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) today sounds mildly encouraging for those unrecognised labourers who strut and fret their hour upon the stage and who were formerly heard no more, till mechanical reproduction and cinematography were invented, that is: actors and musicians. The press release goes as follows:

"WIPO Partners with Actors and Musicians to Boost Performers’ Rights

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) signed on September 23 an agreement with the International Federation of Musicians (FIM) and the International Federation of Actors (FIA) [if it's FIM and FIA, not IFM and IFA, you can be sure the civil lawyers of continental Europe have been busy ...] to support efforts to improve recognition of the significant contributions [The Department of Ambiguity asks whether 'significant' limits the totality of contributions, or suggests that they are significant by virtue of the fact they are contributions] made by actors and musicians around the world [and not elsewhere?].

The agreement, signed by WIPO Director General Francis Gurry, FIA President Agnete G. Haaland and FIM President John Smith, seeks, in particular, to help improve the status of performers in developing countries.

The agreement highlights the connection between IP and labor ["IP is a legal weapon with a worker at both ends of it"] and the special concerns of cultural workers from the viewpoint of development and cultural diversity [does this mean anything to anyone other than the person who wrote it?]. It provides for the organization of joint activities to strengthen performers’ networks and improve their economic and legal status [well, that can't be bad], as well as for raising awareness of the need to support performers. Actors and musicians are an essential element in the development of the creative potential of all economies, particularly in developing countries [Cf doctors, accountants, lawyers, night-club bouncers, career politicians and diplomats? Depends what you mean by 'essential']. It is further anticipated that the agreement will help to galvanize support for the protection of performers at international level [galvanize, initially, is to provide a superficial external surface to cover the substance that lies beneath ...].

Treaty negotiations on the protection of audiovisual performances were deadlocked in December 2000 because of a lack of agreement on the issue of transfer of rights from the performer to the producer [Some would churlishly argue that it is the producer who is "an essential element in the development of the creative potential of all economies", but this is not the place to raise this issue]. Since that time, WIPO has undertaken extensive international consultations to develop information materials on outstanding differences and to improve the flow of information and understanding of the situation of performers [It's good that information materials are being gathered: it's a tedious task but, in the long run, decisions based on fact are likely to be sound than those based on fashionable sentiment, political preference or economic dogma]. Recent consultations among Member States, held in Geneva, allowed for an open debate on this issue, which remains under consideration of the WIPO General Assembly.

FIA and FIM gather, respectively, unions of musicians and actors from all regions in the world. Together they represent hundreds of thousands of professional performers working both in the sound and audiovisual industry [They do indeed, and their task is hard. As much as they toil to better the plight of their members, technology persists in evolving in ways that make it easy to lose any gains they achieve in policy or legal terms]".

Watching sports is "socially important", rules judge

I spotted this case while travelling and forgot to finish writing it up. It's an action brought by the (English) Premier League in Israel to close down a pirate website that was showing live football matches free of charge. The league sought to force Israeli ISP Netvision and web portal Nana to reveal the identity of the Israeli owner of LiveFooty.org, a website which used servers based in that jurisdiction to stream live footage of Premier League matches for nothing.

Tel Aviv District Court judge Michal Agmon-Gonen held that this was an instance of "fair use", since no profit was made from the broadcasts and, under Israeli law, infringement of "broadcasting" copyright only applied in respect of cable or wireless transmission, but not streaming over the internet.

The site, added the judge, had important social aims: "watching sports events is socially important and should remain in the realm of mass entertainment, and not just be for those who can afford it", accepting that those who view online were not damaging the revenues of broadcasters but primarily "those of small means or who are not sufficiently interested in sport to pay".