The Creative Destruction of Copyright - Innovation in the Record Industry and Digital Copying

Digital copying and the supply of sound recordings

“…First, reductions in record industry revenues with the diffusion of digital copying technology are particularly pronounced and occurred relatively early. In Germany inflation-adjusted revenues in the market for sound recordings fell by 41% between 1998 and 2006, which exceeded reductions in the USA (À31%), Japan (À22%) and the UK (À19%) over the same period (Handke, 2010). Second, for the German market, relatively rich and well-documented data is publicly available.…”

“…In this context, it is of interest that digital, unauthorized copying seems to have asymmetric effects, hurting well-established incumbents more than fringe suppliers or newcomers. In other words, unauthorized copying may increase the contestability of the market -for empirical evidence see Gopal et al (2006), Handke (2006Handke ( , 2010 and Bhattacharjee et al (2007) and for theoretical work for example Alcalá and González-Maestre (2010). The underlying, broader issue is the relationship between copyright, innovation and competition in the copyright industries.…”

Copyright for the digital age — A call for legislative reversibility

“…And it is these labels, we suspect, that produce a larger number of new recordings in the digital era. In fact, using a comprehensive measure of new releases, Handke (2010) Aggregate production statistics tell us little about the quality of the works that are released. One concern is that the digitization of the music business might have reduced the number of high-quality, label-released products and led, at the same time, to a flood of low-quality releases for which there is little demand.…”

The Business of DIY. Characteristics, motives and ideologies of micro-independent record labels

“…Arguably, new technologies such as the internet can be used by musicians to secure creative control over their productions (Karasas 2002). Not only have they transformed traditional processes of music production and distribution, they have also contributed to the increase in the supply and consumption of different types of (popular) music (Leyshon et al 2005, Handke 2010, Oliver 2010. Musicians today can promote and distribute their home-produced music virtually free of charge, as user-created content, separated from professional spheres to wider regional, national or international audiences (Kruse 2010, Oliver 2010.…”