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Culture and the Digital Copyright Chimera: Assessing the International Regulatory System of the Music Industry in Relation to Cultural Diversity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 May 2006

Johnlee Scelba Curtis
Affiliation:
Fellow, NCCR | TRADE, a research initiative in the field of international trade law directed by the World Trade Institute, Bern, Switzerland. Email: [email protected].

Abstract

This article examines the international legal regime that governs cultural commodities by providing an up-to-date stocktaking in the field. In doing so, this paper focuses on the music industry, both as the general backdrop and as a context in which to observe the evolution of the current regulatory regime. It includes a review of the history of the commoditization process of musical goods, the requisite legislative and judicial decisions, the international regulatory environment, and a tripartite case study. By reviewing various approaches and examining several recent arenas where the issues have been implicated, the author demonstrates that, in its current form, the international copyright regime is not sufficiently supportive of diversity in cultural property.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 2006 International Cultural Property Society

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