By: Olivia Clark, Georgia State University College of Law
The following is a guest blog post from Olivia Clark, a former merit scholarship pre-professional dancer with Atlanta Ballet, who has recently performed with Crossover Movement Arts. She has two BAs, one in English and the other in Italian, from the University of Georgia, and is currently pursuing her JD at Georgia State University. She has a strong interest in intellectual property and entertainment law, and is a recipient of Georgia State University’s 1L Intellectual Property Scholarship.
An increasing number of businesses are accepting Bitcoins for purchase of goods and services. From lawyer’s fees to sports equipment, Bitcoin exchange is on a growingly versatile path. Should independent musicians consider seizing this opportunity to enter the digital age and accept Bitcoin payment for their songs?
If you haven’t already heard of Bitcoin, it is a decentralized digital currency that is generated at a predictable and limited rate through mining software. As an alternative to exchanging a state based form of money through banking systems, Bitcoins are transferrable from person-to-person and have little to no fees associated with them. Bitcoins can be used in every country, and an account is free to start and cannot be frozen.
So, why should musicians care? Among other reasons, the ever-present issue of copyright infringement of course! In addition to distribution rights, copyright owners have the exclusive right to make copies of a protected work. However, this concept is tricky for digital music files because tangible copies do not exist. Bitcoin can prove helpful to this issue in more ways than one.
Jerry Brito of Reason.com poses an interesting thought in his article, “Is Bitcoin the Key to Digital Copyright?” Because Bitcoin is revolutionary in its ability to transfer ownership of digital property directly from one person to another, he believes that it could easily be used to represent an individual song rather than money, which is presently their sole form. These encrypted files would require the user’s corresponding private key to play the songs, so individuals would be incentivized to purchase digital tracks rather than sharing through other methods like email or via torrent sites.
But let’s check out the benefits musicians can currently reap from two different music distribution business models that accept Bitcoin as a payment alternative.
First, we have Coindl.com which only accepts payment by Bitcoin. Although the most popular good offered is music, the site offers e-books, apps, software, and video as well. Coindl.com charges a low, flat rate of 20% to musicians who want to make their songs available on the site.
Second, we have the more popular FanDistro.com which added Bitcoin to its accepted forms of payment in order to benefit both musicians and customers. By using Bitcoin, musicians do not have to pay for credit card processing fees charged to FanDistro. FanDistro’s agreement with Coinbase Bitcoin exchange also insulates musicians from the fluctuation of the Bitcoin market. Another benefit is making music cost accessible to the pockets of international fans that bands have generated.
Some musicians who do accept Bitcoin believe that it is a cost-effective model for distributing songs while also making those songs more accessible to the international market. On the other hand, Bitcoin as a currency has suffered some setbacks and scares in recent months, especially with the bankruptcy of the Mt. Gox Bitcoin exchange. Additionally, the securities issues related to the currency continue to concern some analysts. Musicians may wish to explore the benefits of Bitcoin, but should do so cautiously and with knowledge of the risks involved.
If you have any questions or concerns, then please don’t hesitate to contact us.
Leave a Reply