Are MP3s Illegal?
There’s a new threat (well, seeming threat) spreading on the Internet these days, mostly perpetuated by a recent press release. This is currently being discussed on many forums, too, and some point to the MP3 licensing website.
In a nutshell, the creator of the MP3 encoding process is attempting to collect royalties from creators of MP3s. And this, apparently, is threatening Internet marketers who generate and distribute MP3s with some hefty lawsuits.
I personally don’t buy the argument, and here’s why…
Before I explain, let me share what one marketer pointed out:
Note: No license is needed for private, non-commercial activities (e.g., home-entertainment, receiving broadcasts and creating a personal music library), not generating revenue or other consideration of any kind or for entities with an annual gross revenue less than US$ 100,000.00.
I’m speaking in Las Vegas right now, and I heard all three speakers (the originators of the press release that’s causing a furor — promoting their website — Gina, Joe C. and Joe R.), and I don’t buy it for several reasons (and these are just my opinions):
- It’s the same as the big GIF/Compuserve licensing controversy from a few years back, but fell in the water because of social and commercial pressure (and gave rise of the PNG format). This is also seen with potential explosion of the OGG format if this follows the same path. (See Vorbis.com.)
- MP3 licensing, like the GIF licensing, is mostly for commercial entities who create processes (software) that contain the algorithm that encodes and compresses MP3s. Not people who create MP3 sound files. So the licensing fee is really for larger companies or software companies.
For instance, it’s like baking a cake and writing a recipe. Say the recipe contains a specific brand-named ingredient, do you have to pay the brand-name owner a royalty each time you bake? No. But, if you were the publisher of the recipe book, and decide to specify a brand name ingredient, you may have to pay a license for using their name (mostly not).
- Like GIFs, they will be muscled out by larger multi-million dollar companies. For instance, one of the biggest trends right now is Podcasting. Thus, making Apple (Mac, creator of the iPod and iTunes), a lot of money.
Sony was the first to introduce MP3 players, DVD players with MP3s and more — and now, many, many other companies do the same. They have billions of dollars worth of MP3 creation equipment in the marketplace right now. And this doesn’t include large software companies with programs that create MP3s, like Microsoft, etc.
Now, let me ask you: do you think large companies who are making a fortune off of the creation of MP3s would allow something like this? No. Like the GIF outcry, they will deal with or muscle out the licensor in some way over time.
My 2 cents.
About the Author
Michel Fortin is a direct response copywriter, author, speaker, consultant, and CEO of The Success Doctor, Inc. Visit his blog and signup free to get tested conversion strategies and response-boosting tips by email, along with blog updates, news, and more! Go now to http://www.michelfortin.com.
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Posted by Michel Fortin on June 26th, 2005. Filed in News, Opinions, Questions. Tagged as controversy, encoding, legal, mp3, ogg, podcasting, press, royalty. Follow responses through the RSS feed.
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