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 Group Proposed Experiment/Pilot in “Voluntary Blanket Licensing” for Online Access to Music Mark Luker EDUCAUSE

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,