1 Issues in Digital Audio

2 Intellectual Property  Non-tangible property that is the result of creativity:  Patents – products, processes etc.  Copyright – recorded information e.g. written work, music, software etc.  Trademarks – trade identifiers, commercial secrets  The right to exclude  People who create should be rewarded

3 Copyright  Prohibits the unauthorized duplication, performance or distribution of a creative work  Is an unregistered right  Most countries have agreed to basic copyright protection terms  The law recognizes that there may be circumstances where enforcement of copyright is not in the best interests of society

4 Fair Use  Limited exclusion to copyrights, but very vague, depends on four factors: 1. The purpose of the use; commercial, non- profit, educational etc. 2. The nature of the copyrighted work 3. The amount of the work used 4. The effect of the use upon the market for the copyrighted work

5 1. The Purpose  Educational or non-profit use of material does not automatically qualify as fair use  However, commercial use will weigh heavily against a finding of fair use  Small extracts used for criticism, review or news reporting normally qualify as fair use  Always requires acknowledgment

6 2. The Nature  Different standards for different conditions i.e. music, art, poetry etc.  Was the work originally produced for profit or for some other purpose  Is the work produced fact or fiction?  Factual work has less stringent copyright

7 3. The Amount  Two factors:  The amount in total  The amount as a proportion of the work  Copying 10% of an image may have little value, whereas copy 10% of a novel might cause substantial loss

8 4. The Effect  If by copying the work the original copyright holder is found to be deprived of substantial income  Making an accurate cover version of a recoding may deprive the original owner of income  Making a garage sampled version might not

9 Other exceptions  A recording of a broadcast can be made for private and domestic use to enable it to be viewed or listened to at a more convenient time  This time-shifting exception does not cover the making of recordings for placing in a collection for repeated viewing or listening  Making a necessary back up copy of a computer program where you are a lawful user

10 Ownership  Ownership of a piece of material does not confer the right to make copies  Several people may have rights over a single piece of audio  The originator (composer)  The performer  The producer of the sound recording

11 Licensing  Copyright licences are often offered by collective bodies:  Public performance and broadcasting of most music is licensed by the Performing Rights Society (PRS)  Recording of music is licensed by the Mechanical- Copyright Protection Society (MCPS)  Public performance, broadcasting and making mechanical copies (dubbing) of sound recordings is licensed by Phonographic Performance Limited(PPL)  Public performance and broadcasting of music videos is licensed by Video Performance Limited (VPL)

12 Internet Content  Under UK law copyright material sent over the Internet or stored on web servers is protected by copyright  All material published on the Internet is inherently copyrighted  Thus you can not just re-use audio, images and pages without permission of the owner

13 Napster  Application that gives individuals access to one another's MP3 files by creating a file-sharing system via the Internet  The U.S. District Court issued an Order on March 5, 2001, that calls for Napster to exclude individual file names from the Napster index, certified to contain the copyright holder's work

14 Sampling  Sampling is the use of portions of prior recordings which are incorporated into a new composition  Requires a licence, but there are companies who specialise in this  Licence fees can vary depending on the length of the sample and how prominent it is in your recording

15 Digital Audio Future  DVD-Audio  Higher fidelity  Increased channel support for surround sound  Inclusion of video, animation and text  Software protection limiting the number of copies  Super Audio CD (Sony)  Physically similar to DVD  Can have up to 6 channels  MHz sampling rate  Same benefits and protections as DVD

16 Digital Audio Future  Audio on demand and streaming audio  RealAudio the de facto standard for streaming audio data over the WWW  Supports FM-stereo-quality sound  Requires proprietary software so not open to piracy  Quality can be dependent on your connection

17 Digital Audio Future  MP3 or related storage formats  Better perceptual coding, joint channel coding and compression  MP4  Internet based distribution  Broadband connections using Digital Subscriber Lines (DSL)or proprietary cable connections  Portable high capacity robust RAM storage and hard disks

18 Fin