May 27, 2003
Ringtones deprive copyright owners of revenues
The Star Online reports on an article published by CNet/Asia, saying that "as many as 65% of all ringtone companies are unlicensed, thus depriving the copyright owners of siginificant revenues. And according to the senior vice-president for new media at music label EMI Group Jay Samit, estimated earnings from ringtones should account for 10% of the recording industry's earnings in coming years".
In 2001, EMI Publishing in the United States sued Calfornia-based Global Media One for $ 45 million for copyright infringment for it's Yourmobile.com web site selling ringtones. A lawsuit regarded by some as a ridiculous, but according to British intellectual copyright lawyer interviewed on CNN and reported by The Star Online, "the most recognisable melody of a song, even if it is only 10 seconds out of three minutes, is considered "substantial copying."
In trying to get a handle on copyright protection and to avoid what happened to the music industry on the Internet with Napster and other file sharing websites, last June, Nokia released a software toolkit enabling programmers to create ring tones and images that will last only for a limited time. To play them indefinitely, the user will have to pay a set fee which will give him access to the correct digital key, unlocking the full version (cf Temporary Ringtones). And for more on ringtones and copyright issues, cf Copyright Protection category in Ringtonia.
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