Repeated Resistance to New Technologies

Through legal and historical analysis of the recording industry’s tactics to deter copyright infringement on the Internet between 1993 and 2003, this book suggests the main reason why the recording industry has repeatedly failed to protect copyrighted works online is its resistance to Internet-based technologies and its failure to modify its existing business models to include the latest innovations. The recording industry’s resistance to Internet-based technologies, such as peer-to-peer networks, demonstrates an ongoing, decades-old tension between new technologies and copyright law. For every victory the recording industry secures in copyright law, another technology challenging its control over copyrighted works is just around the corner. Based on extensive historical and legal research including case law, legislative histories, and in-depth interviews, this author argues that the solution to easing the tension between new technologies and preserving the economic vitality of industries that rely on intellectual property is for copyright owners to embrace innovations and modify existing business models – a lesson the recording industry has yet to learn.