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Music and Copyright.

Article Excerpt
Music and Copyright, 2d ed. Edited by Simon Frith and Lee Marshall. New York: Routledge, 2004. [vi, 218 p. ISBN 0-415-97253-1. $24.95.] Index.

Music copyright is a broad and complex issue. Philosophers and kings, governments and courts, publishers and musicians have all shaped its history and guide its current development. Protecting the bundle of rights associated with copyright are world trade organizations, national legislators and judicial systems, and collection agencies, while those protected are publishers, composers, lyricists, and performers. The recent spate of lawsuits against individuals accused of sharing music files attest to the seriousness that the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) brings to these rights. Yet, as with the United States' Prohibition Act of the 1920s, public behavior is often in conflict with the law. Music has become ubiquitous within Western society, and with it copyright has moved from an arcane legal framework designed to stimulate creative output to a daily concern for millions of consumers. What are the issues that will guide present and future public and legal debate and shape subsequent legislation?

Simon Frith and Lee Marshall have crafted a compelling monograph that is both intellectually broad and specifically relevant to the lives...

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