Recording Acts Definition
DAT was already available in Japan and Europe in 1987, but equipment manufacturers delayed the introduction of the format in the United States in the face of opposition from the record industry. The phonogram industry, fearing that the ability to make perfect, intergenerational copies would lead to widespread copyright infringement and loss of revenue, had two main levers over device manufacturers. First, consumer electronics manufacturers felt they needed the collaboration of the record industry to get consumers – many of whom were in the process of replacing their cassettes and records with compact discs – to adopt a new music format. Second, device manufacturers feared a lawsuit for indirect copyright infringement. [1] Whatever their intention, AHRA royalties have never been a significant source of revenue for anyone, least of all for the recording industry. The Copyright Office`s Digital Audio Recording Technology Fund (DART) revenues peaked at $5.2 million in 2000 and have declined sharply since then. Sales for 2005 were approximately $2.4 million. According to the Licensing Division of the U.S. Copyright Office, DART funds distributed since 1993 exceed $45 million. [19] Although an act of registration does not require a document, the law strongly encourages a purchaser to register it. Registration constructively informs all subsequent buyers that a previous transfer has taken place and thus protects the previous buyer in the event of an onward transfer. Under the PCPA, royalties collected by the Copyright Office for digital recording equipment and digital recording media are divided into two separate funds, the Musical Works Fund and the Sound Recording Fund. One-third of the royalties go to the Musical Works Fund, which splits its 50/50 share between writers (distributed by ASCAP, BMI and SESAC) and music publishers (distributed by Harry Fox Agency).
These parties receive royalties based on the extent to which their recordings have been distributed or broadcast. Registration systems are established by state laws. They usually provide for the office of a recorder in each county or other jurisdiction. The names of these offices are usually the «Recorder of Deeds» or similar. State laws also require the following: «Act of Admission.» Merriam-Webster.com Legal Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, www.merriam-webster.com/legal/recording%20act. Retrieved 6 November 2022. According to a race status, the winner is the one who registers first. So if Oscar claims to sell land to Alice for $100,000 and claims to sell the exact same land to Bob for an additional $100,000 the next day, the first of the two buyers to reach the admissions office and register the sale is considered the owner of the property. So if Bob is the first to record the show, he will own it, even though he was aware of the previous transfer to Alice. Racial laws are extremely rare, as it is generally considered unfair to protect a party who actually had knowledge of a previous transfer. Currently, Delaware, North Carolina and Louisiana are the only jurisdictions where a racial law is in force. The advantage of pure racial status is that it encourages all scholars to quickly grasp their interest.
AHRA is prominent in the record industry`s lawsuit against XM radio for Samsung`s Helix and Pioneers Inno XM receivers, which allow users to record satellite radio blocks and disaggregate individual songs. XM submitted that the devices are «digital audio recording devices» («DARs») under the PCPA and therefore benefit from an exemption from copyright infringement proceedings for private and non-commercial copies. A judge in the U.S. District Court of New York agreed that these devices are DARs because they can record from a transmission without the use of an external computer or computer hard drive. As manufacturers or distributors of DARDs, Samsung and Pioneer are immune from prosecution as long as they comply with AHRA requirements, including quarterly royalty payments to the U.S. Copyright Office for each device distributed. However, according to the District Court, this immunity does not protect XM from the action brought by the phonogram industry. The record industry`s complaint was about XM`s use of their music, not the distribution of the equipment. XM is currently authorized under Section 114 of the U.S. Copyright Act to provide music to the phonogram industry through a digital satellite transmission service. However, the record industry`s complaint alleges that services such as XM+ MP3 distribute permanent digital copies of sound recordings without a license. XM is being sued for distributing the music industry without a distribution license, not for distributing devices like Helix and Inno.
Accordingly, the District Court dismissed XM`s motion to dismiss on the basis that AHRA`s immunity with respect to the distribution of DARD`s XM does not protect a copyright infringement action based on the distribution of music without a license. [1] The definition of «digital audio recording medium» in the PCPA explicitly excludes recorded but recordable media and storage media used primarily to store information other than musical works. [13] The definition of «digital audio recording medium» is similar: a subsequent purchaser who pays the fair value of the property and does not realize that there were other conflicting interests in the past wins and takes precedence over subsequent recordings. As noted above, there are restrictions on the protection of most record-keeping laws, some of which are listed below. By the late 1980s, several manufacturers were ready to introduce digital audio formats for reading and writing in the United States. These new formats represented a significant improvement over the newly introduced digital read-only format of the compact disc, allowing consumers to create perfect copies of digital audio recordings over multiple generations. The best known of these formats was Digital Audio Tape (DAT), followed in the early 1990s by Philips` Digital Compact Cassette (DCC) and Sony`s Minidisc. A «digital audio recording medium» is a tangible item in a form normally distributed for use by individuals and that is primarily marketed by consumers or most often used to make digital audio recordings copied using a digital audio recording device. [10] Two House reports characterize the provision as legalizing digital copies at home to the same extent as analog copies. One states: «In the case of home recordings, the exception protects all non-commercial copies of digital and analogue recordings by consumers»[22] and the other states: «In short, the notified legislation [Article 1008] would make it clear that consumers cannot be prosecuted if they make analogue or digital audio copies for private, non-commercial use. [23] The remaining two-thirds of the royalties will be paid into the Sound Recording Fund.
Four per cent of these funds are deducted for unperformed musicians and singers (distributed by the AFM/SAG-AFTRA Intellectual Property Rights Distribution Fund, jointly managed by the American Federation of Musicians and SAG-AFTRA). The remaining 96% is split 60/40 between two groups of «copyright stakeholders». Interested parties in copyright, a previously unknown category in copyright, are defined by law, as featured artists receive 40% and holders of the right to reproduce sound recordings (an individual or company, usually the record company that owns the master sound recording) 60%.