Economics of Copyright Collecting Societies and Digital Rights: Is There a Case for a Centralised Digital Copyright Exchange?

Authors: Towse, R.

Journal: Review of Economic Research in Copyright Issues

Volume: 9

Issue: 2

Pages: 3-30

Publisher: Society for Economic Research on Copyright Issues

ISSN: 1698-1359

Abstract:

Copyright collecting societies have attracted economists’ attention for over 30 years and the attention of government regulators for even longer. They have typically been accepted by economists and by courts of law as necessary for reducing transaction costs and enabling copyright to work. The advent of digitization has led to renewed interest in the topic and to the view that though new technologies offer the possibility of improved rights management, collecting societies are not responding sufficiently to these opportunities. That view was evident in recent enquiries into the role of copyright in the digital age in the UK, which proposed the formation of a Digital Copyright Exchange (DCE) that would promote online digital trade. This paper evaluates the case for the DCE in the light of what economists know about collective rights management.

https://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/20958/

http://www.serci.org/

Source: Manual

Preferred by: Ruth Towse

Economics of Copyright Collecting Societies and Digital Rights: Is There a Case for a Centralised Digital Copyright Exchange?

Authors: Towse, R.

Journal: Review of Economic Research in Copyright Issues

Volume: 9

Issue: 2

Pages: 3-30

ISSN: 1698-1359

Abstract:

Copyright collecting societies have attracted economists’ attention for over 30 years and the attention of government regulators for even longer. They have typically been accepted by economists and by courts of law as necessary for reducing transaction costs and enabling copyright to work. The advent of digitization has led to renewed interest in the topic and to the view that though new technologies offer the possibility of improved rights management, collecting societies are not responding sufficiently to these opportunities. That view was evident in recent enquiries into the role of copyright in the digital age in the UK, which proposed the formation of a Digital Copyright Exchange (DCE) that would promote online digital trade. This paper evaluates the case for the DCE in the light of what economists know about collective rights management.

https://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/20958/

http://www.serci.org/

Source: BURO EPrints