Will activities of Amazoogle prompt ASCAP, BMI and SESAC get into microcontent?
Will there be a need for a performance license? A mechanical license of parts of book content? Should the authors/publishers be compensated via some mechanism like those provided in the music business? Will that extend to other types of content? Would the statutory rate be different for text content? Would the Library of Congress set it? How would that affect the re-use of content? I guess it could mean that it would be easier to clear rights for content?
If we had that, how might it change how authors are renummerated for their content ... for the "performance of their work" inside these services? Should they be? Is a chapter of a book the same as a track on a record? Is a thirty second clip the same as three paragraphs of a book? Is a search result snippet a performance of a work? Is it more like "phone book data" ?
It has been a while since my copyright law and music publishing classes, but these things really pique my interest. I wish I had more time to explore them. I also wonder if remixed web services might operate under these conditions one day too. Fascinating stuff!
