Clark, Robert --- "Sharing out online liability: sharing files, sharing risks and targeting ISPs" [2009] ELECD 335; in Strowel, Alain (ed), "Peer-to-Peer File Sharing and Secondary Liability in Copyright Law" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2009)

Book Title: Peer-to-Peer File Sharing and Secondary Liability in Copyright Law

Editor(s): Strowel, Alain

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781847205629

Section: Chapter 7

Section Title: Sharing out online liability: sharing files, sharing risks and targeting ISPs

Author(s): Clark, Robert

Number of pages: 33

Extract:

7. Sharing out online liability: sharing
files, sharing risks and targeting ISPs
Robert Clark

THE FILE-SHARING PHENOMENON
The use of the Internet to distribute sound recordings now forms a significant
proportion of music sales.1 The use of the Internet to facilitate music file trans-
fers has spawned new ways of commercialising music, which benefits most
sectors of the music copyright industries. The use of file-sharing technology to
enable musicians to distribute music for promotional purposes shows that
original musical compositions and sound recordings can be exchanged over a
network using MP3 technology without infringing any rights. A startling
demonstration of this is the success of the Arctic Monkeys. Early sound
recordings and original compositions of the band were available for free
download, creating a strong fan base and a reputation for `integrity'.2 The
Gnarls Barkley single Crazy has been available as an illegal download since
Autumn 2005 but proved so popular that, when it became available for legal
download in March 2006, the track went to no. 1 in the charts on the basis of
downloads alone.3 Even the back catalogues of major record companies have
benefited from the availability of single tracks for legal download, though
there is a negative impact in the sense that the buying public is less likely to


1 The International Federation for the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) estimates
that in 2005 some 420 million single tracks were downloaded, more than 20 times the
figure for 2003. Estimates for 2006 total ...