1st Edition

Music Distribution and the Internet A Legal Guide for the Music Business

By Andrew Sparrow Copyright 2006
    222 Pages
    by Routledge

    222 Pages
    by Routledge

    There is hardly an aspect of internet music promotion, sale and distribution which does not have a legal dimension. Since the stakeholders in the process includes artists, their managers, music publishers, record companies, distribution companies and the consumer, the law relating to internet music distribution is extremely complex. Andrew Sparrow's Music Distribution and the Internet provides those connected to the music and media industries with a guide to the legal requirements they must meet, answering questions such as: ¢ How should you conclude contracts with consumers over the internet? ¢ What are the various legal terms and conditions that should govern the sale of physical product to online music buyers? ¢ How should a website user's personal information be handled? ¢ What limitations are there on the way this data may be used for ongoing marketing of an artist's work or the merchandise associated with it? ¢ What are the latest copyright laws in this area and how do they apply to the internet? The book provides practical advice on how to approach key relationships with the internet buying consumer and other online media providers. The law is explained in straightforward terms and applied throughout in a music business context. Music Distribution and the Internet is an essential reference for anyone seeking to exploit and protect their rights and those of their artists in the rapidly expanding, constantly evolving and fascinating arena that is new media.

    Contents: Introduction to the internet and its impact on music distribution; Online contracts for the sale of music and merchandise; Website terms and conditions; E-Commerce Regulations 2002; Protecting and exploiting intellectual property rights in online music; Online marketing of music and merchandise; Collecting online data about music-buying consumers; Distance selling regulations and online music and merchandise sales; Paying for internet music distribution; Agreements with web designers, mobile operators and internet service providers; Strategic agreements between the internet music company and other parties; Advertising music and merchandise online; Electronic signatures and online music sales; Disability discrimination issues for music websites; Whose law applies to internet music sales?; Further reading; Index.

    Biography

    Andrew Sparrow is a national award winning Solicitor and founder of Lecote Solicitors, a niche commercial law firm concentrating on Internet, IT and New Media Law. He was one of the first Solicitors in the United Kingdom to pursue the legal issues relating to online business. Andrew is author of several books on commercial and Internet law published internationally. In a national poll conducted in 2004 and supported by the Department of Trade & Industry he was acknowledged as one of 100 individuals in the UK who have contributed most to the development of the internet in the last ten years.

    'It is a book no one in the field would want to miss...' Emerald Journal - Library Review 'The great advantage of the book is that it deals with the issues in a comprehensive and logical manner. This book is a vital part of a commercial lawyer's armoury when acting for clients who operate websites for the sale of products and services.' Law Institute Victoria 'How well, and from that how effective are legal decisions and interpretations in the field, is something Sparrow touches upon and something that readers will readily identify with...Sparrow has added an attractive topical work to the current literature. It is a book no one in the field would want to miss,' Stuart Hannabuss Aberdeen Business School Writing for Library Management Journal 'In his new book, Sparrow attemps to offer insights into the legal aspects of conducting music-related business online....Few other books about online music offer any analysis of matters such as advertising regulations, electronic payment systems or internatinal conflicts of laws' Jeremy de Beer Law Professor at the University of Ottawa.