MP3 Blogs: A Silver Bullet for the Music Industry or a Smoking Gun for Copyright Infringement?

Abstract:     
Over the last two years, MP3 blogs have emerged as a powerful marketing and promotion tool for bands and labels and an excellent music recommendation source for music fans. MP3 blogs employ a variety of different means of distribution including direct downloading, linked downloading and aggregating. This paper examines the scope of copyright liability raised by the various forms of music sharing employed by MP3 blogs, while also addressing the differences between a copyright infringement analysis of these blogs and peer to peer file sharing systems. In addition, this paper discusses the applicability of the fair use defense, and specific factors that are more likely to weigh in favor of MP3 blogs than peer to peer file sharing.

Keywords: MP3, blog, copyright infringement, peer to peer, fair use

JEL Classifications: K39

Working Paper Series